


Betrothed

by thatmavin



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Arranged Marriage, Kings & Queens, M/M, Princes & Princesses, Smut, king!au, prince!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-02-03 11:50:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 32,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1743698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatmavin/pseuds/thatmavin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In order to merge two of the most thriving and wealthiest kingdoms in all of the land, Prince Free is arranged to marry the handsome and mysterious young king, Ryan Haywood. </p><p>Gavin wants no part of it, until he becomes addicted to the intense stare of the king's blue eyes, the lingering touch of his strong hands, and the mischievous grin that the young king seems to always be wearing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Open the Gates

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> SCREEEECH, my first (posted) Freewood fic!  
> I love Freewood so much. I feel like it's my neglected child, I'm such a bad Freewood mommy. 
> 
> ANYWAY, so here we go. This fic isn't going to be many parts, so enjoy it while it lasts? I guess? 
> 
> Just a quick thing, betrothed is a fancy word for fiancee, someone you're engaged to. Incase no one knew? 
> 
> Lastly, there will probably be smut. But I'm not adding it to the tag list until I'm sure. 
> 
> Ok, that's it. I'll run and hide now. 
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin wanted to be at Ryan’s level when he arrived. He wanted to be there as soon as those doors opened so he could look him in the face and tell Ryan that he  **would not**  marry him. 
> 
> And that was final.

"Sir, he’s here." Burnie stood in the doorway. Gavin stared out the window, watching the carriage pull into the entrance of the palace gates. 

"I know." Gavin replied curtly. 

"Sir, it’d be best if you at least came down to see him."

"Why should I? He’s only here because he wants to bloody merge kingdoms. There has to be a damn way to do it that doesn’t involve me."

"Unfortunately, there isn’t."

"Well, tell him to wait until I become King of my own kingdom, then I’ll change the rules and just give him half of all our assets and call it a day." Gavin looked away from the window and walked out of the room, Burnie close at his heels. "You don’t have to follow me."

"I always have." Burnie grins, happy to see that the young man has at least left his room.

The Prince’s boots clicked along the marble floor, echoing off of the stone walls. His strides were long and confident as he walked the familiar halls of the palace that he’s lived in his entire life. Gavin didn’t want to meet the young king from the Haywood family. The entire bloodline of that family was basically insane. Why would Geoff agree to have the two of them marry? Ryan was older than Gavin, and based on the gossip that Gavin has overheard from the palace workers, he’s handsome. There were many eligible princesses and princes elsewhere. Why would he have chosen Gavin? Why would he chose to merge Achievement City with...wherever the bloody hell he’s from?

As Gavin entered the Great Room, Geoff turned his head. The crown that sat upon his thick dark hair shined after its cleaning. Griffon was perched on her throne. She sat up taller when she saw her son. Jack Patillo stood near her, wiping the polishing cloth over her own crown. Jack’s job wasn’t to clean, or anything like that. But, he always insisted that, because he was Geoff and Griffon’s best friend, that he’d assist them in anyway he could. Which, was usually in keeping track of their duties and attending meetings with them. Though, it often also meant assisting Burnie in looking after the Prince, or making sure that the King and Queen looked and ate their best. The workers in the kitchen loved when Sir Pattillo stepped in to help. He was funny and quite charming, anyone was pleased to be in his good company. 

Once Gavin entered the room, all eyes were on him. Geoff exchanged a glance with Griffon before approaching his son. 

"Good morning, Gavin." Geoff gave a small bow to his son. Gavin folded his arms and shrugged his shoulders. "Please, you shouldn’t act coldly towards me. This is a good thing. Arranged marriage may sound inconsiderate or cruel. But, this will help Achievement City grow."

"It’s already bloody huge, that’s just an excuse. I don’t know when you became so money hungry, but it’s not fair that I’m at the feet of your poor decisions. Why should I go through with something as important as marriage just to raise our city’s worth?"

"It’s not like that." Geoff shook his head, turning his head to his wife for help. Griffon pretended that she didn’t see it. Geoff sighed. "Gavin, please understand-"

"How should I?" Gavin hisses. Burnie placed his hand on the young man’s back apologetically, but Gavin shrugged him off. "Growing up, you always told me that love is far more important than anything else. You and Griffon married for love! And, look how happy you are as a result!" Gavin felt tears burn at his eyes, but he swallowed them down. "I want that!" 

"Gav-"

"I WANT THAT!" Gavin yelled, silencing the large room. Griffon frowned in concern at the young Prince, guilt ate away at her stomach, unsettling it. Geoff turned away from Gavin. With a sigh, Jack placed the crown neatly on Queen Ramsey’s head. She thanked him with a smile and a gentle touch to his hand. Jack stepped away from the throne, joining his place at Burnie’s side. 

"Gavin, join us up here, please." Griffon touched the throne between her own and Geoff’s. The middle one belonged to Gavin. He didn’t want to sit with them. He didn’t even want to look at them. "Your betrothed will be here soon."

“ _Betrothed_.” Gavin rolled his eyes at the word. 

"Please?" Griffon’s voice was gentle and nearly persuaded Gavin to sit upon his throne, but, Gavin wanted to be at Ryan’s level when he arrived. He wanted to be there as soon as those doors opened so he could look him in the face and tell Ryan that he  **would not**  marry him. 

And that was final.


	2. Presenting Ryan Haywood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin stood his ground, not moving an inch. He was ready to finally put his foot down for once in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Another chapter update. That's all really, I don't have much else to say. 
> 
> Enjoy, then!
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

Footsteps came from down the hall. Gavin stood his ground, not moving an inch. He was ready to finally put his foot down for once in his life. Then, hopefully, with this whole marriage thing out of the picture, maybe Geoff and Griffon would return to normal. They’ve both been so strange since the topic of merging the kingdoms came up. 

"Your royal majesties, I present to you, King James Haywood." A guard opened the large double doors. As they opened Gavin balled both of his hands into fists at his sides, ready to shout to the heavens above that he disliked the entire idea of marrying the King and therefor would not do it. But…what he was met with, was not at all what he imagined. 

The man that came through the doors wasn’t some nutcase-looking hairy creepy man. He was dressed finely, in a brass buttoned red doublet, white breeches, leather boots and a simple silver crown without jewels. His face was clean shaven, his blue eyes were lively and he wore a smirk on his face. The quirked smile wasn’t intimidating or evil in expression, but confident and bold. As if he knew that he was someone powerful, someone great. Usually, Gavin would find this showboaty and annoying. But, when the young king entered the room, Gavin lost his will to yell and scream at him, even the will to even say hello. 

Ryan stood in front of Gavin, their eyes locked and there was an awkward lack of space between them. They looked at each other in their close proximity. Gavin wanted to say something, anything, but the air caught in his throat and he remained silent. The young king was the one to break the silence. 

"Do you always stand this close to doors that are yet to open? I could’ve mowed you over if it wasn’t for my slow strides." Ryan spoke in a voice only loud enough for the two of them to hear. His voice was deep and a bit gravely as he kept his tone low. "Be more careful." Ryan pat Gavin on the shoulder before brushing passed him on his way to greet Geoff and Griffon. 

"James." Griffon smiled gently, offering her hand to him. Ryan placed his lips upon her hand respectfully. 

"Your majesty." He bowed his head, releasing her hand. "I must inform you that I do go by Ryan."

"My apologies. I believe your parents mentioned that to me before." Griffon smiled weakly at the young man. "I am sorry to hear what happened to them."

"It’s…fine." Ryan struggled to say the words. His parents have been a sensitive subject since their death.

"I’m sorry as well." Geoff shook the younger king’s hand when it was extended to him. "But, I must say, it is very nice to see you again."

"You as well." Ryan backed away from the thrones, holding his hands behind his back. "So, this is Gavin." He turned his head in the prince’s direction.

"Yes, do you remember him at all? It’s been a while since you two have seen each other." Griffon asked.

"Has it?" Ryan looked at the ceiling trying to count the times he’s seen Gavin. He can’t remember there being many times, but he does remember that it has been a while. "I suppose you’re right." 

"Yes." Griffon smiles. "Gavin will show you to your room now."

"What?" Gavin choked. 

"Show James to his room, please." Griffon turned her head to Gavin, giving him pleading eyes. 

"Ryan." The young ruler corrected her. 

"Oh, yes. I’m sorry. It’s going to take me a while to get used to that." Griffon blushed. Geoff rises from his throne and crosses the room to his liquor. "Geoff." Griffon scolds. 

"What? We’re men." Geoff popped the cork. "Do you drink, Ryan?" 

"Yes, but I’ll not have any right now. I’d rather have Gavin show me to my room now, if that’s alright?"

"Of course." Geoff toasted alone, taking the glass to his mouth. 

"Isn’t showing Ryan to his room a servant’s job?" Gavin asked. "No offense, but I take no pleasure in that job."

"Is it that much of a hassle?" Ryan asked of Gavin. Gavin’s confidence faltered slightly, again. 

"N-no, but Ryan." Gavin made direct eye contact with him. "I do not wish to marry you, and I won’t." Gavin finally said. He was proud of himself and he grinned as he waited for Ryan to accept defeat and leave. Ryan sighed and shifted his weight, placing a hand on his hip. 

"That’s great, but what does that have to do with showing me my room?" Ryan inquired. Gavin’s grin faded. 

"Huh?" The prince breathed. 

"Well, I only asked about my room. I mentioned nothing of our marriage." Ryan shrugged. 

"But, you’re supposed to-" Gavin was cut off by Burnie stepping forward. 

"I’ll show you to your room, Sir." Burnie spoke in a friendly tone.

"Good, some hospitality." Ryan turned on his heels to face Burnie. 

"This way, your majesty."


	3. Eager

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What is the matter with you??"
> 
> "I already told you what was the matter."
> 
> "About you not wanting to marry me?" Ryan guessed, Gavin didn’t say anything. "That’s fine. But, like I said before, I still don’t understand what that has to do with showing me my room."
> 
> "It’s not about the bloody room!" Gavin stopped walking and turned to Ryan. "It’s about you! I don’t want to marry you! So why should I even show you to your room? Why aren’t you just ready to go home and forget about all of this?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Well, chapter 3. I told ya the chapters would be short.  
> Hope you all are enjoying!
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

"No!" Gavin growled. Ryan and Burnie stopped in their tracks. "I’ll walk Ryan to his room, Burnie, go do something else." 

"Oh, uh, yes…" Burnie bowed his head. "Yes, Sir."

"Thank you." Gavin walked ahead of Ryan, not bothering looking back to see if he was following or not. But, once they were back into the marble floored hallways, he heard feet clicking behind his, so he knew Ryan was there. 

"Would you slow down?" Ryan asked. 

"No." Gavin replied. 

"What is the matter with you??"

"I already told you what was the matter."

"About you not wanting to marry me?" Ryan guessed, Gavin didn’t say anything. "That’s fine. But, like I said before, I still don’t understand what that has to do with showing me my room."

"It’s not about the bloody room!" Gavin stopped walking and turned to Ryan. "It’s about you! I don’t want to marry you! So why should I even show you to your room? Why aren’t you just ready to go home and forget about all of this?"

"You think I’d leave just because you’re throwing a temper tantrum?" 

"Huh?"

"You’re young, and you’re not getting your way. So, what do you do? You cry and pout." Ryan shrugged. "It’s not going to scare me off." 

"I’m not throwing a t-"

"How old are you anyway?" Ryan’s blue eyes searched Gavin’s green ones.

"I’m nineteen." Gavin folded his arms. 

"Hm, not that much younger."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-four." Ryan smiled, he was intrigued. "Will you be twenty this year, or next?"

"This year." Gavin took his eyes away from Ryan’s. 

"Are you alright?"

"All of this is just really bloody overwhelming." Gavin shook his head. "It’s driving me mental. I feel absolutely-" Gavin was cut off by Ryan’s hand suddenly against his jaw. Ryan’s skin smelled of fresh pine and his palm was soft. Gavin’s eyes flickered up to Ryan’s as he froze under the older man’s touch. It was a delayed reaction but Gavin’s face heated up and he swatted Ryan’s hand away. "Ryan! What are you doing!?"

"You’re actually pretty cute." Ryan hummed.

"Why’d you-"

"I thought it might calm you."

"It did the exact opposite!"

"Eh, you win some, you lose some." Ryan shrugged.

"Can we just get to your room, please?"

"Eager, are we?" Ryan teased.

"You’re horrible." Gavin shook his head and began walking down the hallway again.

"You didn’t deny it." Ryan smirked.

"Deny what?"

"That you wanted to go to my room."

"My job was to show you to your room, I get no pleasure from this."

"You could."

"Piss off."

"I’m just saying." Ryan gave an amused chuckle.

"Well, don’t."


	4. Chance for Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Should I leave you to it, then?" Gavin folded his arms. 
> 
> "To what?" Ryan sat up. "Have I got something to do?"
> 
> "Do you?" Gavin shrugged. "Why are you here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> So much freewod, so little time!  
> Is this story even interesting? I'm just writing it for fun. Sorry if it's not that 'gripping' haha. 
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

Ryan’s room was large and it faced the south side of the palace’s property. The south side is where the flowered trees lined the path. Also, the large body of water where Gavin liked swimming, and taking out the canoe is also visible from the large windows of Ryan’s guest room. It was very beautiful this time of year, though, Gavin hasn’t been in the mood to enjoy the pond yet. He’s been spending too much time taking every opportunity he could to get away from the palace. He’s been into town nearly every day for the last two months. Much to Griffon and Geoff’s annoyance, seeing as important things were happening in the palace that they wanted Gavin to be apart of. 

Because Gavin was a prince, he had specific duties that were his and his alone. But, he’s skipped out on them. The King and Queen didn’t see how Gavin was going to be able to run a kingdom if he rejected every possible chance to prove his ability now. How would he know what was expected of him? Showing Ryan to his room was the first thing that Geoff and Griffon had told Gavin to do, that he actually did, in months. 

As Ryan looked around his room, he wore that same smirk that made dimples form in his cheeks. Gavin leaned against the doorway. 

"This is great, it reminds me of home." Ryan flopped onto the bed. 

"Should I leave you to it, then?" Gavin folded his arms. 

"To what?" Ryan sat up. "Have I got something to do?"

"Do you?" Gavin shrugged. "Why are you here?

"Oh, that. I’m glad you’ve brought that up." Ryan gave a genuine smile, versus the smirks he’s been wearing. "I am staying here for a week, in hopes to get to know you better. Then, I was hoping that you would come to my palace at the end of the week, and stay with me for seven days. To get to know me, too." Ryan rose an eyebrow, questioning if Gavin would agree to this. Gavin didn’t like to be difficult, nor did he like to disappoint people. He usually had a hard time saying no. And, frankly, Ryan’s offer appealed to him. Not because he was interesting in getting to know Ryan, but because Gavin could  _use_  this. 

Gavin wanted to spend more time away from the palace. He also always wanted to have more friends. The only friend he had was Ray, which was fine because Gavin really enjoyed his company. Gavin had met Ray long ago, when the younger male was just a poor boy in the village. Ray showed Gavin how to have fun without having really anything at all, and Gavin was very grateful for that. In return, Gavin would bring him food, clothing sometimes and books to read. Ray’s health improved, his skill during their pretend ‘duels’ got even better. 

After several visits to Ray, Gavin realized that Ray deserved better than what he had. That everyone deserved to live with at least basic necessities. Why wasn’t it already like this? Why were the people in their ‘beloved’ kingdom suffering while everyone else in the palace tossed out food like it was nothing, even sent away gifts that the villages people offered? Moreover, why are Geoff and Griffon acting this way? They weren’t always like this. Gavin remembers when his adoptive parents would go out and sing and dance with the kingdom’s people. The town was happier then, it’s people were healthier. But things have changed, and that horrible change is what made Gavin want to takeover. He wanted to rule the right way. 

Gavin eventually went to get Ray, and take him back to the palace. Geoff and Griffon liked Ray, and his combat skills. They gave the position of a palace guard, and gave him a room to sleep in. 

Even though Ray is often on duty and can’t spend time with Gavin, knowing that Ray is happy with his life now, makes Gavin feel good. And, when Ray isn’t on duty, the two play fruitfully and run about causing all of the trouble that they please. They were inseparable. 

But, now, all Gavin wanted to do was get away. He couldn’t stand seeing Geoff and Griffon the way they are now. They were like empty greedy robots. Is this what ruling eventually becomes for everyone? Just a job that is no longer personal? Something that is more of a task to be completed instead of an opportunity to help someone? That isn’t right. This isn’t right. Something has to change. 

Gavin smiled, though inside he cringed at his own actions. Guilt flowed cold in his blood. Using Ryan to get away from the palace wasn’t fair, but it sounded better than having to deal with Geoff and Griffon’s crap. “Sure, Ryan. At the end of the week, I’ll visit your palace for seven days as well.”

"Excellent." Ryan nodded. Both he and Gavin’s eyes flicker to the door as someone walks in, carrying two obviously heavy luggage bags. "Oh, there you are." 


	5. Kerry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan removed the red doublet and dropped it onto the floor. "Come here, Gavin." 
> 
> "Huh?" Gavin was startled by the request. To be ordered around by an undressing Ryan, was…unsettling. "Why?"
> 
> "I have a gift for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> So, I got the idea to have Ryan's possessive relationship with Kerry by the way he ordered the younger man around in the 'King Ryan 2 Minecraft Let's Play' during Ryan's second ruling. We'll see more of his relationship with Kerry later. Their relationship isn't romantic, at least not from Ryan's side. Kerry might have a 'hint' of feelings for Ryan. But nothing serious. Their relationship is based in something else other than romance. I don't know what yet really, but all the romantic stuff is left to Mr. Free and Mr. Haywood, down the road of course. This is a journey you guys!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter while I write the next! 
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

"You won’t believe what I had to go through to find you." The man spoke very casually to Ryan between panting breaths. The young king was amused as he watched the man struggle in with the heavy suitcases. Gavin remained stood at the doorway. Obviously, whoever the man with the bags was, he hadn’t noticed the Prince standing there. "Would you help me?"

"No." Ryan rolled onto his stomach, propping his chin on his hands, kicking his feet in the air. "Kerry, I’m far too dainty."

"You’re such an asshole." The man sighed, dropping the heavy bags onto the floor near the bed. "First, the palace guards wouldn’t let me in. I’d been asleep in the carriage when they parked it, they didn’t know I was in there I guess." The man stooped down to open both of Ryan’s suitcases. "So, I got out of the parked carriage like an hour after you had already gone in. So, they thought I was just some kind of stowaway." The man folded his arms. "Not only that, but this place is huge. Eventually, when they’d finally let me in, I couldn’t even find you. After they told me where you were, I was still wondering around like a dumb ass. Not to mention that I was lugging around your ridiculously heavy bags while lost in this maze!"

"Oh, Kerry, by the way." Ryan stood up, chuckling. He pointed at Gavin. "This is my betrothed." 

"Oh…" Kerry turned slowly with a blush tinting his cheeks. He hadn’t known that someone was listening to his conversation with his king. He bowed his head, looking at the floor. "Please pardon my crude language, it must’ve appeared very rude. I shan’t speak to you in such a way, as that would be disrespectful. Especially to you Sir, my future King as well. The one who shall be seated at Sir Ryan’s side."

"Kerry, cut the crap." Ryan walked over to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Kerry, this is Gavin." He escorted Kerry to stand in front of Gavin. "Gavin, this is my Kerry."

"Hello." Gavin extended a hand and the men greeted each other. Ryan said that Kerry was  _his_  Kerry. What the bloody hell does that mean? 

"Hey," Kerry greeted Gavin quickly, turning his attention back to Ryan. "So what did you mean by ‘cut the crap’?" 

"You don’t have to be formal in front of or to Gavin." Ryan explained, walking over to his suitcase. "Gavin is cool." Ryan began to unbutton his doublet. "Besides, we’ll be married soon. No sense in pretending. Just be normal, Kerry. Right, Gavin?"

"Uh," Gavin was confused, and the overwhelming feeling returned to his brain. He looked from Ryan to Kerry. Kerry had light brown hair, and friendly eyes. "What do you mean, that…Kerry is  _yours_?” Gavin asked Ryan.

"Kerry does as he’s told, and he does a fine job at it." Ryan explained, only it left Gavin with more questions than answers. As Ryan said the words, he kept his intense blue eyes on Kerry, who avoided the look. He must’ve known the look was coming. Also, as the words left Ryan’s lips, there was a strange vibe about them. Something somewhat possessive and filled with innuendo. Gavin thought that maybe he was just reading into it incorrectly. "I’ve been sweating all day in the carriage. I feel disgusting."

"Would you like a bath?" Kerry asked.

"After the banquet." Ryan removed the red doublet and dropped it onto the floor. "Come here, Gavin." 

"Huh?" Gavin was startled by the request. To be ordered around by an undressing Ryan, was…unsettling. "Why?"

"I have a gift for you." 

"A gift?" Gavin repeated in question. 

"It’s nice, Ryan searched very hard for one such as this." Kerry smiled in anticipation. 

"Um, alright." Gavin left his position against the doorframe and approached Ryan with a hesitant stride. 

"In here." Ryan kicked his boot against the second suitcase, as he dug a clean navy-blue doublet from out of the first one. Gavin peered into the suitcase Ryan had pointed to, and he gasped when he saw what was inside.


	6. From its Sheath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Why’d you shoo him away so quickly?"
> 
> "I think you know why." Ryan gave him a smirk. 
> 
> "But, the banquet starts in like-"
> 
> "Did I ask?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> ANYWAY, so guys...I just want to make sure that you all understand, that this fic may or may not get smutty down the road. I'm not usually one to write smut, but I thought I'd give it another try? I'll apply proper warnings, and leave further warnings in the notes when the time comes. 
> 
> However, for now, have innuendo ridden Ryan expressions. 
> 
> Now that that's out the way, why don't we chat? So, how are you all doing? Oh really? Aw, well...I don't think I could help with that. Put cream on it? It'll clear up soon I'm sure. 
> 
> I love you :)
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for Reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

"I can’t accept this." Gavin shook his head. 

"Though, you will." Ryan said as he buttoned his doublet. "It is yours."

"Ryan, I’m not-"

"Do you like it?" Ryan asked, then chuckled. "Why am I asking that? You haven’t even seen it yet. Kerry, would you show it to him?"

"Yes, Sir." Kerry answered quickly, coming around to where Gavin stood. 

"Do it the formal way." Ryan instructed, taking a few steps back to watch. 

"Sir Gavin, of the finest there are," Kerry picked up the sheathed weapon. "Please accept this gift." Kerry got on his knee, holding the item out to Gavin. 

"Take it from its sheath, Gavin." Ryan hummed. 

"Don’t fucking cut me, it’s super sharp and I can tell you’re clumsy." Kerry said under his breath. 

"This is why I can’t accept it…" Gavin blushed. "I’ve never been good at handling swords. My strong suit is archery."

"I know." Ryan answered, approaching Gavin. "That’s why I bought you this." Ryan skillfully took the sword from its sheath. The long silver blade glimmered in the light. Gavin couldn’t take his eyes off the details. Along the grip were beautiful etched designs. Along the other bits of the sword were detailed as well, of course, besides the blade. "I want to push you out of your comfort zone, Gavin. And…if you are to be with me. Some basic sword combat would be fun."

"Fun?" Gavin flinched as Ryan put his arm around his betrothed’s waist. The sword was handed to Gavin, the sheer weight of the object nearly sent him off balance. Luckily, Ryan was still held onto him. He wasn’t expecting it to be so heavy. Geoff had only allowed him to experiment with wooden swords as a boy. Even then, he was too clumsy with that type of weapon. 

That is why everyone was so blown away with Gavin’s skill with the bow. Archery takes great focus and control to be good at it. Gavin’s accuracy with a bow was nearly bullseye every time. This is what gave Gavin the nickname ‘Mark Nutt‘. Mark Nutt was an archer from long ago who protected the kingdom, sniping down an intruders, thieves or otherwise. Geoff and Griffon would tell the boy stories about the famous archer before bed. Gavin had always wanted to be like him. 

But, with the sword…Gavin was lost, off balance, and weak. He’d thought that his time with the bow would’ve strengthened his arms enough for this. Though clearly, either this sword was especially heavy…or Gavin’s noodle arms have again bid him injustice. Gavin held the sword to his side, letting the point touch the floor. His blonde bangs fell in front of his eyes as he looked down.

"How the bloody…"

"You look so hot with a sword." Ryan commented to himself in a whisper, so Gavin wouldn’t hear. 

"How much did this even cost? Even the sheath has details."

"No matter." Ryan cleared his throat to ward off his indecent thoughts. His eyes fell on Kerry and he chewed his lip thoughtfully. He returned his eyes to Gavin. "Should we let you get ready for the banquet? I assume you have more to do with it than I." 

"Oh, true. They want me to-"

"Splendid. I’ll see you at dinner." Ryan answered quickly. Gavin rose his brow but shrugged it off. "Take your sword."

"I haven’t forgotten." Gavin gave a small smile, replacing the sword into it’s leather sheath and leaving Ryan’s room. Kerry instinctually ran to close Ryan’s door. With Gavin gone, Ryan ran his fingers through his hair. 

"Fuck!" Ryan cursed loudly, kicking the second suitcase hard with his foot. The suitcase turned over. 

"That boy will be the death of you." Kerry giggled. "About how pent up are you right now?" 

"Shut up." Ryan ran his hand over his jaw. "What am I going to do?"

"Suffer for this week, and next."

"Hopefully next week, he’ll actually enjoy the idea of being my husband." 

"Maybe."

"Then, he’ll give himself to me. All of himself."

"Sure."

"I’ve met many others far more willing to give in than him. He’s such a challenge."

"Is that why you picked him?" Kerry inquired. 

"What do you mean?"

"You like challenges, not usually boys like Gavin. But, you do enjoy challenges."

"That’s not why I chose Gavin, but the fact that he’s become a challenge makes it far more enticing." 

"Figures." Kerry leaned his weight against the wall. "So,"

"Hm?"

"Why’d you shoo him away so quickly?"

"I think you know why." Ryan gave him a smirk. 

"But, the banquet starts in like-"

"Did I ask?" Ryan picks up a leather belt from his luggage. The blues in Ryan’s eyes were icy enough to freeze Kerry in place. The way his teeth chewed his lip indicated that if he wanted to, he could eat Kerry alive. The look made Kerry’s legs feel weak. Kerry’s heart pulsed quickly in his chest, with both nervousness and excitement fueled by lust. 


	7. "Hey, Gavino!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin walked into the large dining room where meals were usually served when they had guests, only to find it empty. His brow furrowed in confusion, but his eyes fell on the one other person in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Sorry for the chapters being so short. I feel like it might be annoying for you all to read? But, they're just short because I can update faster that way, and it's fun just update little parts instead of stressing longer trying to get a more lengthy part up and taking more time. So, sorry if it's hard to get into. 
> 
> I'm just writing for fun, try not to take me so seriously! Ok? :)
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

Gavin walked into the large dining room where meals were usually served when they had guests, only to find it empty. His brow furrowed in confusion, but his eyes fell on the one other person in the room. 

"Hey, Gavino!" Ray gave a wave.

"Oh, hello, Ray!" Gavin was so happy to see him, he ran across the large room to his friend. Ray stood up and held his arms open. Soon, his open arms were full of Gavin. The two hugged happily. "I feel like it’s been so damn long!" 

"It’s been a while sure. It’s ridiculous. We’re finally living in the same place, and we never see each other."

"Well, your job is very important." Gavin shrugged. 

"That doesn’t mean much. I mean, ok. I know my job is important. But, it’s still fucked up that I can’t even see my best friend when I want." Ray rolled his eyes. 

"I miss you, you little shite." Gavin messed up Ray’s hair. "Where the bloody hell is everyone? Was the banquet canceled?"

"Nah, it’s just being held out in the courtyard. The weather was too nice for an indoor feast, said Griffon."

"Oh, well alright." Gavin accepted the news, but then he rose a curious eyebrow to Ray. "Were you waiting here just for me incase I showed up like a dummy?"

"Yeah!" Ray laughed, Gavin joined him. "There were signs everywhere saying that the banquet had moved. But, like I thought, you didn’t read a single fucking one."

"Gosh, I’m so dumb."

"I know." Ray held his side which hurt from laughter. Once he’d collected himself, he saw the strap across Gavin’s chest that held his bow and arrows. Ray gave the strap a tug. "You’re doing an archery demo tonight?"

"Yeah." Gavin nodded. "T’was requested of me."

"Ah, I see." Ray nodded. "Well, let’s get to the banquet."

"Walk with me?"

"Duh." 

_____________________________

 

 

On the walk, Ray started asking Gavin how things were going, and Gavin brought up Ryan. Of course, being Gavin’s friend, Ray had questions. 

"What’s Ryan like?" Ray asked. 

"Have you seen him?" 

"Well, duh Gavin." Ray smiled. "I’m a guard, I know everyone coming in and leaving the palace." 

"You’re so good at your job." Gavin commented, giving the younger a pat on the back.

"You didn’t answer my question." Ray points out, Gavin simply shrugs. "You don’t like him?"

"I don’t know him." Gavin shakes his head. "The pity is that if I actually had the chance to get to know him, I think we could be friends.

"More than friend too?"

"Maybe not, I’ve never really wanted a relationship. Truth be told, they scare me." Gavin looks down away from Ray. 

"I thought the same thing until I met Joel. Granted he’s older than me, and lives away in another kingdom…" Ray sighed. "But when we’re together, all is right with the world. Wouldn’t it be nice to feel that way?"

"Sure. But being forced into it via Geoff’s greed, is not at all the way I wanted to experience such joy. Also, there’s something up with Ryan. He kind of freaks me out…"

"Why is that?" Ray raises his brow. 

"He seems…very sexual?"

"Has he asked you for sex?" Ray holds the door open for Gavin. 

"I mean…no…but-"

"Then how is he sexual? Or did he…give you a look?" 

"Not me, but his squire."

“His squire? Kerry?” Ray is taken aback. “Maybe you just read into it wrong…”

"Maybe."

"I bet he’s not that sexual, it could’ve been friendly teasing." 


	8. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Kerry, I want you to stay here and make up the bed, then join us at the banquet.” Ryan spoke in a low voice so Burnie wouldn’t hear. “I don’t want a servant to enter the room and have the bed look messed about in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Hey guys, sorry for the wait. School, work, family...life.  
> Gets in the way of my writing. But, because the chapters are so short, it's easier to write.  
> So, you'll see more soon. We're going to meet another Prince and his lady in the next chapter.  
> Should be fun :)
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

Kerry pulled his pants back up over his bottom, shimmying until they were in place. Ryan did the same, watching the muscles in Kerry’s back flex with his movements. The young king hummed again, wanting to go for another round with Kerry already. But, he willed the thoughts off. Besides, there was no use being later than he already was. That would only bring more attention. The king disliked when people pried into his personal affairs, especially those that involved Kerry. Most would not approve of such a relationship as theirs.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Ryan asked. Kerry looked at his wrists, the leather belt that had been tied around them left red marks in its wake. Kerry brought his eyes up to the king with a smile. 

"Do I have to answer?" He rose an eyebrow as he pulled his shirt on, then his doublet. 

"No." Ryan shrugged his shirt over his body. "Come button me up as well, would you?"

"Child." Kerry sighed, approaching the ruler to assist him with the buttons. As he stood in front of Ryan, he brought his lips to the man’s ear. "I can still feel you in me." He murmured. Ryan bit his lip, giving a hungry purr. "You’ve left your marks." Kerry moved Ryan’s hands to his chest, where the older man had left a number of bruises suckled into his skin. Then to his back, where Ryan had clawed thin lines in varying directions. 

"Fix my shirt." Ryan commanded, reaching up, bringing his fingers into Kerry’s hair. Kerry inhaled deeply as Ryan began pulling the strands of hair taught. 

"Yes, Sir." 

"Good." The king watched as Kerry’s nimble fingers moved all of the buttons into place. Ryan slipped on his doublet then Kerry buttoned that as well. 

Usually, things weren’t gentle between the king and Kerry, but, as the squire fastened the last button on his doublet, Ryan held Kerry’s soft face in his hands. The younger man’s face went rouge, and Ryan softly brought their lips together. Kerry wasn’t too much shorter than Ryan, but he went on his toes anyway. When Ryan pulled away, he smiled. 

"Sire…" Kerry began, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. 

"Your majesty?" Came a voice from the hall. 

"Yes, Burnie? Is that you?" Ryan smoothed his hair back with his fingers. 

"Yes, it is me. I was wondering if there was something that you needed?" Burnie cleared his throat. "Though no one is rushing you, we are waiting for you, and a couple of additional guests to start the banquet."

"Yes, my apologies. I wanted to change my clothing before the meal." Ryan cut his eyes from Kerry to the door. "Would you escort me to dinner, Burnie?"

"Of course, Sir." Burnie leaned against the wall, waiting for Ryan to leave the room. 

"Kerry, I want you to stay here and make up the bed, then join us at the banquet.” Ryan spoke in a low voice so Burnie wouldn’t hear. “I don’t want a servant to enter the room and have the bed look messed about in." He stepped into his boots and buckled them in place. 

"I shall, Sire." Kerry bowed his head. Ryan gave his smirk and then exited the room, walking alongside Burnie to the banquet. 


	9. The Prince of Banjshire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael’s eyes fell on Gavin and his lips parted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! 
> 
> Guys, guys, guys. I don't know what I'm doing.  
> Like, I was wanting Freewood, but my heart was wanting Mavin.  
> AND NOW, I'm sensing at least two love triangles going on! SEND HELP! I CAN'T STOP PAIRING! -heavy breathing- Ok, here's the thing, I'm just going to write down what comes to me. I'm super curious to see who actually ends up with who? Maybe things will get so crazy that Gavin marries his bow and arrows instead, and Ryan marries Edgar. Well, not really. But things could get that insane! They won't...but, I'm just saying. This s**t cray...pretend I didn't say that. 
> 
> ANYWAY, This fic is going to get so crazy you guys. If you all are along for the ride, I'd be happy to have you. Hold on tight though, it's gonna get pretty wild...
> 
> Also, still no full on smut. I'm proud. I get to keep my purity longer xD
> 
> ALSO, Banjshire is a variation of "Banjo" from the game Michael likes "Banjo-Kazooie". Lame I know, but I didn't know what else to call it. I still haven't named Ryan's kingdom yet. If you have any ideas let me know!
> 
> Ok, I'm done babies.
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

 

 

 

 

Lindsay giggled as Michael got out of the carriage, pulling her out with him. She stumbled ungracefully from the buggy and she gave him a swat to his arm. 

"Michael!" She squealed and fell into him. 

"Gosh, Lindsay." He moved her fringe from her eyes. "You’re so fucking clumsy, what the hell is wrong with you?" He teased her. To unknowing ears, these comments might sound rude. In reality, they were words full of affection for his soon to be bride. She pressed her forehead to his then gave him a small kiss. 

"Behave, please?" She gave him an expectant look. He rolled his eyes. 

"It’s a party, what the hell?" Michael asked. 

"Banquet." She corrected. 

"Whatever. It’s a ‘banquet’ to welcome Ryan. And, Ryan’s my old friend. Why would he care if I’m a little pumped up?"

"Michael, just because you’re not a king…it doesn’t mean that you mustn’t behave."

"Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, manners and shit. Let’s go in." He took her hand again and lead her up the steps to the palace. The guard greeted them, opening the door for them and sharing the location of the banquet with them. 

_____________________________

 

As they walked out onto the terrace and into the courtyard, they saw the people, and the only two empty seats at the table left for them. The dinner plates were all eaten from and being cleared from the table. 

"Michael, Lindsay." Griffon smiled as the couple approached. 

"Good evening, your majesty." Michael bowed his head, the small golden crown upon his head stayed neatly upon his scarlet curls as he tipped his head forward. Lindsay bowed her head as well, her tiara slumped a bit from its place. Michael turned to her, grinning at Lindsay as he fixed it for her. 

"Thanks, baby." Lindsay giggled then covered her mouth, realizing that displaying such casual affections in front of the Queen might be against the rules. Griffon simply smiled at the young lovers and turned to Geoff. 

"Michael, good to see you again. Same to you Lindsay." Geoff said as he rose to his feet. "Unfortunately, dinner has already been served. But, we could serve yours now."

"No it’s fine, we’ve already eaten." Michael bowed his head to Geoff. 

"Oh, well alright." Geoff shrugged. "Dessert will be served soon, while Gavin gives his archery demonstration." Geoff motioned to his son. Gavin was rising from the table as he did so. Michael’s eyes fell on Gavin and his lips parted. Gavin moved from the table to the large grassy area of the courtyard. A servant stood there, holding the bow and arrow out to him. He thanked the servant and the banquet attendees went silent as they watched. Lindsay pulled on Michael’s hand to guide him to the table but he didn’t move. Lindsay shrugged and took her seat next to Ray.

Gavin brought his body into focus as he studied the target. Ryan rose an amused eyebrow as his betrothed held the bow steady. Gavin lined the arrow against the bowstring. As he pulled it taught, his trained muscles knew exactly what to do. He took a deep breath, upon exhale he let it go. A zipping sound cut through the air as the arrow shot across the field to the target, hitting right on the border of the circle to the bullseye. As the guests clapped, Gavin’s focused green eyes cut to the servant who gave him his second arrow. 

Michael felt his heart racing with intrigue as Gavin focused again, repeating the previous steps. This time, upon exhale, and the bow being shot, the arrow had a bit of a curve to it’s aim. Michael thought that there was no way that the arrow could hit the target at the angle. But this time, the arrow stuck directly into the center.

"Bullseye!" Geoff cheered, startling Michael into breathing properly again. Suddenly the serious focused intense eyes that Gavin had worn while shooting returned to his normal friendly eyes. He hadn’t worn a grin like the one he wore now in a while, due to the stress he found himself in here at the palace. However, today he’s worn it twice. When he saw Ray, and when he got the bullseye. Gavin handed off his bow to the servant then ran across the courtyard to his parents. Geoff gave a loud whoop, clapping his son proudly on the back. "Best damn archer in the land!" 

"Maaark Nutt!" Ray called. 

"That was great, Gavin." Griffon pet her son’s hair. 

"It was bloody top! And I was so nervous!" Gavin shook his head in disbelief. 

"Nervous?" Michael asked. Gavin turned his head to the stranger. 

"Oh, hello." Gavin smiled politely and held his hand out to Michael. "I’m Gavin."

"How the fuck were you nervous? You were steady as shit. I can’t believe that was you nervous." Michael commented as he shook Gavin’s hand, then glanced at Geoff and Griffon. "Excuse my language."

"It’s fine." Griffon smiled. "Well, Geoff and I are heading to bed. We would stay for dessert, but we’re awfully tired. Besides, it would be fun to have all the youngsters get to know each other."

"Yeah, night guys." Geoff offered a wave. 

"Goodnight." Gavin waved back. Burnie and Jack followed Geoff and Griffon, along with a few servants that would prepare the king and queen for bed. 

As they left, Ryan ran over to Gavin picking him up and spinning him. Gavin gave a high pitched squawk of surprise. 

"Ryan! What the bloody hell are you doing?!" Gavin tried to wiggle away. 

"That was great! No wonder you said the bow was your strong suit! You’re so hot…I mean skilled with the bow!" Ryan put him back down on his feet then looked at Michael. "I’m so glad that you agreed to stay at the palace this week. It’ll be fun to hang here with all of us."

"They’re staying too?" Gavin asked. 

"Yeah. Did I mention that?" Ryan pretended to feel guilty. 

"Nice to meet you." Michael realized that he hadn’t introduced him self. "I’m Prince Michael, from the Kingdom of Banjshire."

"Michael is an old friend of mine." Ryan informed Gavin. "Michael, this is Gavin, my betrothed."

"Oh…" Michael remembered. "That’s right. This is Lady Lindsay Tuggey, _my_ betrothed."

"Hello, Lindsay." Gavin waved at her from where they stood. She smiled and waved, then returned talking to Ray. "They seem to be hitting it off, Ray is very friendly." Kerry joined into the pairs’ conversation, the three of them laughing loudly. 

"Yeah…" Michael said returning his eyes to Gavin. 

"Well, now that it’s just us kids, why don’t we get some drinks into us to keep the party going?" Ryan asked. 

"That’d be great." Michael nodded. “I told Lindsay that this was going to be a party.”


	10. The Drink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael chuckled. “I take it that you’ve noted his sexual nature already?”
> 
> “Yeah.” Gavin nodded.
> 
> “Has he gotten to you, yet?”
> 
> "Nope." Gavin shakes his head. "He hasn’t tried to."
> 
> "Hm, then he respects you." Michael nodded. "He usually pounces anyone he only has sexual intentions with."
> 
> "Were you pounced?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> So, so, so!  
> Mavin isn't taking over you guys, There will still be plenty of Freewood.  
> I'm just letting Michael and Gavin get to know each other a bit. Ryan will have his turn to get to know Gavin soon. I just know that it's the last thing that Gavin wants so I'm easing into it, just as he would, ya know?  
> Don't hate me. Again this story is just for fun, don't take me so seriously! Sorry if it's boring.  
> I still don't know what I'm doing. Thanks for all of the support though!
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for Reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

"I’d love to stay and have fun with you all, but I should really go." Ray rose from the table. 

"What? No, Ray…" Gavin frowned. "We get to spend time together."

"We could do that some other time." The younger man laughed nervously. Gavin knew what the problem was.

"Ray…no one is going to force you to drink." Gavin spoke gently. The others turned their heads to Ray and Gavin. Having the sudden audience nearly made Ray’s confident stance waver. He sucked the nervousness deep down inside of himself. 

"I know not what you mean." Ray shook his head. "I’ll be going now. Goodn-"

"My king," Kerry stood from the table as well. "If it would be alright, I would like to spend time with Sir Ray, he looks like he could use a friend." Ryan wasn’t expecting the request and his face distorted in confusion. Kerry didn’t usually ask to be apart from Ryan, yet here he was asking now. Still, Kerry doesn’t spend his time with anyone else but Ryan. He could probably use a friend as well. 

"Sure." Ryan nodded. "I’ll see you tomorrow. No later than noon, yeah?"

"Yeah — er um, yes, Sire. Thank you." Kerry bowed his head forward then trotted up to Ray, smiling like a child paired with his friend for a project. 

As they left, Gavin sighed, wishing Ray had stayed. It’d been so long since they’d spent time together, and Gavin was currently jealous of Kerry. But…Gavin understood. Being around alcohol made Ray extraordinarily uncomfortable. To ask him to stay would have been very selfish. Gavin would be sure to apologize for it. As Gavin looked back up at the group, he picked up his glass, taking a sip of wine. 

"Ray doesn’t drink?" Michael asked. Gavin licked his lips and looked down, shaking his head. 

"He does not, and it’s not weird. Don’t make fun of him for it, it’s a long story. I wish not to continue conversing about the matter." Gavin responded. 

"Oh, I wasn’t…sorry." Michael looked down too. 

"Hey, cheer up." Lindsay pat Michael’s back. "It sounds like a sensitive subject, just drop it." 

"Ok." Michael nodded. 

"So, Ray and Kerry shan’t be celebrating with us? Let’s drink enough for the both of them! Alright?" Ryan rose an eyebrow with a smirk. He motioned to a servant. "A round of drinks for this group of new good friends, my dear!"

_____________________________

Needless to say, Ryan got drunk. 

He was foolishly sauntering about the courtyard and unable to speak clearly any longer. Gavin repeatedly told him that it would be better if he would just go to bed. He refused, declaring the party was still ‘on’ and that he was the life of it. Though, when Gavin flagged down a servant to escort the young king to his room, Ryan didn’t protest. 

Later, Lindsay retired to her room as well. She kissed Michael’s forehead and left the two princes alone. 

Michael and Gavin hadn’t had much to drink, but enough for them both to take turns hiccuping. Michael propped his head up on his hand and sighed. 

“Do you want me to leave, too?” Michael asked, Gavin’s brow furrowed. 

“Pardon?”

“You seem like a kinda lonely guy, but one who enjoys his loneliness.”

“An introvert?”

“Something of the sort, should I leave?”

“Um, no. I kind of like having you here.” Gavin shrugged.

“Kind of?” Michael chuckled.

“I’m not intimidated by you…” Gavin laughed too. 

“You’re the first person to say that to me.” Michael rolled his eyes. “Everyone else thinks I’m scary and shit.”

“Why?”

“Because ‘my face’ or ‘my attitude’. It’s crap if you ask me. Just because I don’t kiss people’s asses doesn’t mean that I’m a bad guy, y’know?”

“Yeah. I think you’re a fine lad. I don’t know you well of course, but you’re alright in my book.”

“Thanks kid.” Michael took a swig of his drink.

“ _Kid_.” Gavin scoffed.

“Shut the hell up.” Michael laughed again, finding it nearly impossible to stop smiling around Gavin. His aura was something smooth and bright, like sunlight. “And fine, since you insist, I’ll stay.” 

“Thank you.” Gavin hiccuped and gave a small yawn, which Michael returned. When the silence returned, Michael looked around the courtyard.

"Achievement City is fucking big, Gavin. I can’t believe that you’ll rule something like this." Michael commented. 

"Don’t want to." Gavin shrugged. 

"Then let me, rule it asshole." The redhead chuckled.

"S’how do you know Ryan?" Gavin quickly changed the subject. He didn’t even want to think about ruling the place. He turned his head to Michael.

"Oh…" Michael sat up. "It’s, uh —"

"Did you two fuck?" Gavin’s drunken smile spread lazily across his face. He wouldn’t normally say the word ‘fuck’ but his drunken brain certainly enjoyed the word. Michael examined Gavin’s drunken grin and laughed.

"You look dopey as hell, I wish you could see yourself."

"Y’didn’t answer my question, Michael."

"I don’t remember." Michael answered honestly.

"What?” Gavin asked. “How could you not remember if you and Ryan had sex?"

"We got completely drunk, I woke up in his bed. His clothes were off, mine weren’t." He shrugged. "I could’ve just not taken my pants completely off. Who knows."

"Oh."

"But, that’s not how I  _know_  him.” Michael chuckled. “I take it that you’ve noted his sexual nature already?”

“Yeah.” Gavin nodded.

“Has he gotten to you, yet?”

"Nope." Gavin shakes his head. "He hasn’t tried to."

"Hm, then he respects you." Michael nodded. "He usually pounces anyone he only has sexual intentions with."

"Were you pounced?"

"No." Michael shook his head. "But like I told you, I don’t remember what went down with us."

"How’d you know em, then?" Gavin rested his chin on the table as he looked across it from Michael. Michael’s eyes flickered into contact with Gavin’s. The blonde rose his eyebrow curiously. 

As Michael remembered his first encounter with Ryan, who was a prince as well back then, a smirk spread on his face. He remembers the cold blade at his neck and the wild fire in the older man’s eyes. 

“The first time we met… **he tried to kill me**.”


	11. Weak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So, what did I ask of you?"
> 
> "Tomorrow morning, bring Gavin to you." Kerry repeated the information. "Yes, Sire."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Sorry for this kind of 'filler' chapter. I know it's not that interesting.  
> I was going to have this chapter be all flashback from Michael and Ryan's conflict, but this happened instead?  
> Even though this was kind of boring, the next chapter is all about Gavin and Ryan (finally, right?).  
> Also, sorry if there are a million typos. I'm a fool <3  
> I'm still on a trip, so I will take a little while (maybe) to upload it. 
> 
> Thank you for being so understanding, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> And as always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> -ThatMavin

"Who tried to kill who now?" Kerry walked onto the courtyard. Michael brought his eyes to him, Gavin did too. 

"Oh, just the time that your lovely king meant to take my life." Michael sighed. 

"One of my favorites." Kerry looked at the mostly empty table. "Ryan left already? It’s not like him to turn in."

"He was trashed." Gavin commented.

"Even still, he likes to stick around." Kerry smirked at Gavin. "It must’ve been you then."

"I did send him off…" Gavin nodded.

"He listens to you." Kerry was impressed. "Maybe this is fate." 

"Doubt it." Gavin returns his attention to Michael. "Finish telling your story."

"Oh right…so-"

"Not to interrupt, but I’m going to go see to it that the king is alright, so I’ll wish you all a goodnight." Kerry bowed his head to the men.

"Stay and chat with us, you know this story Kerry." Michael patted the place at the table.

"I’d love to, Sir….but I really must see to Ryan."

"I thought you were staying at Ray’s?" Michael rose a brow.

"Yes, but the young guard decided to sneak out and see Sir Joel." Kerry reported. "Don’t tell." 

"Won’t." Gavin smiled. "Ray and Joel are so sweet." 

"I agree.” Kerry smiled. “I’ll see you both tomorrow I assume." Kerry bowed his head again and turned on his heels to trot across the courtyard and into the palace.

 _____________________________

Kerry made his way down the long stone hallways of the Ramsey palace. He was almost jogging with excitement to see the king, even though he knew the man was hopelessly drunk and wouldn’t be able to…perform. He wasn’t really in the mood for that either. In reality, he was just eager to take care of Ryan. He got a sort of pleasure from taking care of Ryan. It wasn’t something sexual or lusty. It was…a genuine sort of happiness. 

Even though he took two wrong turns, or so he thought, he arrived outside of he and Ryan’s room in moments. He listened outside the door for a moment to see if he could hear the king snoring. He didn’t, still, he opened the door slowly. 

"I thought you’d be back. Get…get the fuck in here." Ryan mumbled drunkenly from his bed. He wore a silly smile on his face. 

"You should be sleeping, my king." Kerry smiled, kicking the door closed with his foot. 

"Easy, easy. They’re fine w-wood…that’s a, that’s a fucking nice door." Ryan began to chuckle as he slurred his sentences. 

"Shut up, you foolish man." Kerry crawled across the satin blanket to the king. 

"You retired early from Ray to come see me?" Ryan asked. Kerry leaned over and pressed a kiss to Ryan’s jaw. 

"Don’t muse yourself. Ray left to visit Joel." 

"Hm, and the others?"

"Telling the story of how you attempted to slice Sir Michael’s head off." 

"Don’t call him Sir, me only." Ryan reached up a hand and held Kerry’s chin hard between his thumb and forefinger. 

"Yes, Sire." Kerry looked into Ryan’s eyes.

"Good." Ryan brought a kiss to Kerry’s lips. 

"Shall I prepare you for bed?"

"If you’d be so kind." Ryan kicked off his boots. "They left you a cot to sleep on. It made me laugh." He spoke as Kerry crawled to the center of the bed to reach Ryan’s feet. He slipped off the socks and tossed them down to the boots. 

"Maybe I’ll sleep on the cot just to spite you. Maybe I don’t want to lay beside you tonight." Kerry looked up at Ryan, a smirk on his lips. Ryan looked down and laughed at the squires expression. 

"Don’t make me kick you while you’re down there."

"So cruel." Kerry inched his hands up the king’s breeches until his hand was on the thick waistband of the breeches. Ryan arched his hips into Kerry’s touch. The squire did well not to look at the king’s crotch. The vivid thoughts already held his mind’s attention. Kerry’s undid the buckle on Ryan’s belt. 

"Did you say that the princes were discussing Michael and I’s first encounter?"

"Yes, Sire."

"Ha, that was a fun day." Ryan smiled as he remembered. "Do you remember, Kerry?"

"No, I don’t think I do." Kerry lied, Ryan knew. Kerry was aware that Ryan liked to tell the story, so he pretended not to remember it. Ryan knew that Kerry liked to hear the story, so he went along with what Kerry did. 

"As my kingdom prepared for war," Ryan began as Kerry peeled the pants from his legs. Ryan’s body was thick with muscle. His entire body was like a force to be reckoned with. "We invited our neighboring kingdoms to join us into battle, they had no choice. Seeing as we were clearly larger than them in size, so they were intimidated, but still, willing to join us." 

"Michael wasn’t supposed to come to battle as a prince." Kerry added. 

"I wasn’t supposed to battle because of my royal status as well. Especially since I was the only prince to my family. Should I be lost, our kingdom would have no heir."

"But you knew that if the job was to get done, you had to take charge."

"You know me well." Ryan gave his smirk. "We held practice, one on one combats to test the soldiers’ skill." Ryan purred as Kerry pulled his shirt over his head, planting kisses down his chest as he did so. "When Michael was up next, I was intrigued to approach. I’d heard many things about his swordsmanship. I wanted to try him for myself."

"What happened, my king?" Kerry stood from the bed and pulled Ryan with him. 

"We fought, it went well. However, at one point, he dropped his sword. I saw fear in his eyes, weakness. He stumbled back and fell. I held the blade to his throat…I couldn’t stand that look of fear in his eyes. So fucking weak. He didn’t deserve to live. If I was the enemy, he would’ve died anyway." Ryan followed Kerry to the bath. "What difference would it had made if I’d done it?"

"A weak link in the chain, Sire." Kerry sat Ryan by the bath. 

"But, he trained with me. He became stronger each day. He did what I told him to. He was wise to do so."

"Yes, sire."

He wasn’t going to give Ryan a full bath. Just wash him gently with the cloth. Ryan sat on the edge of the bath and Kerry sat the bucket of water above the fire place, lit it and let the water begin to warm. With the water heated, he took it from the fire and began to bathe Ryan with it. Kerry dipped the cloth into it and brought it over the king’s head. The small beads of water dripped from Ryan’s hair and trailed down his back.  The squire watched as the droplets reached his bottom. Ryan chuckled and looked at Kerry’s face. 

"It’s unusual to see you admiring my ass, squire." Ryan commented. Kerry’s face went rouge. 

"I’m sorry, Sire." Kerry bowed his head. 

"Come here." Ryan pulled Kerry to stand in front of him. "On your knees." 

Kerry swallowed hard as his knees hit the cool stone floor. His heartbeat quickened and he felt his face flushed. Ryan ran his hand gently over Kerry's face, all the way to the back of his neck, to play with the feathery hairs at the nape of his neck. Kerry closed his eyes as Ryan did so. 

"Tomorrow, I want you to bring Gavin to me in the morning." Ryan instructed. 

"Why, my king?" Kerry’s eyes opened slightly. 

"Don’t ask me questions, not whilst you’re on your knees. You’re already too vulnerable." Ryan purred. "So, what did I ask of you?"

"Tomorrow morning, bring Gavin to you." Kerry repeated the information. "Yes, Sire."

"You’re so good to me, Kerry."


	12. Good Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry and Gavin walked to Ryan’s room in silence. The squire was having an intense inner dialogue with himself. He knew the king would be able to tell immediately that something was on his mind. Kerry didn’t want Gavin to have to feel the King’s wrath because of it, and he was also very worried what Ryan would do to Michael.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Guys, I goofed. This chapter was going to be freewood (finally) but then, I did this. BUT, the next chapter will be freewood because I finally, finally, finally, started writing it and I refuse to let anything but freewood happen. 
> 
> I promise. I feel so bad, this fic was going to be like 'FREEWOOD YEAH' then it was like -dramatic close up- "NO, ALL OF THE SHIPS" soooo I'm sorry. 
> 
> Also, I finally added the smut tag. Because, I gave a teeny detail that I felt was soooo scandalous that I had to. Lastly, I promise that the next scene isn't going to be sexual. I know it seems that way because of...well, you'll see. But this fic isn't going to turn into smut city, so don't worry. 
> 
> Anyway, so I'm going to be spending forever in the car again today and I thought I'd post this part now because I don't know when I'll be able to. Roadtrip, whoo! 
> 
> Enjoy guys and I'll see you all in the next one. 
> 
> And as Always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

Gavin had his hands above his head, gripping the bed’s frame to keep himself from reaching down between his legs and pulling too harshly at Michael’s curls. He moaned as Michael once again inserted him into his mouth. They'd been hearing feet walking up and down the halls since sunrise as the servants tended to their morning responsibilities. However, a certain pair of feet stopped at his door and knocked. Gavin froze, Michael froze too. 

"Gavin, are you awake?" Kerry asked.

"What the hell do we do??" Gavin pulled the blanket back to see Michael’s face. 

"Why are you asking me?? You’re not the one with a dick in your mouth!" Michael scowled.

"We should probably hide!" Lindsay’s head popped up from under the blanket as well. 

"Well bloody do it instead of talking about it!" Gavin hissed.

"Sorry, I have to enter now. King’s orders." Kerry opened the door. "Good morning Sir Gav-" He stopped short upon seeing the large lump under the blanket that was positioned between Gavin’s legs. 

"Uh, how’s your morning so far, Kerry?" Gavin sat up. "Mine’s top."

"I guess so, looks like you’re getting laid. I’m going to take a shot in the dark here and say it’s Michael." Kerry closed the door and leaned against it, arms folded. 

"Actually I’m here all by myself." Gavin knew it was obvious that he was lying, but he’d probably never get another chance in life to make this joke.

"Ok, so if you’re alone, what’s that under the blanket?"

"I’ve just got a  _really_  big knob.” He stated then burst into laughter. Michael and Lindsay couldn’t keep quiet, their laughter shook under the blanket. Kerry’s eyes widened. 

"You’ve got a girl in here too??" Kerry’s jaw fell open. 

"Ok guys, come out." Gavin patted the two under the blanket. Michael’s head popped out first, then Lindsay’s. She drew the blanket close to cover her breasts. Kerry covered his face with his hands and groaned.

"So, I know that it’s not fair of me to say it…because to put it simply, I’m apparently fucking your betrothed…but Gavin! Are you insane!?" Kerry threw his hands up in the air. 

"I knew it! I told everyone I thought that Ryan was sleeping with Kerry!" Gavin gasped. "Ray’s gonna freak the hell out!"

"Gavin, not the point! What I’m saying is, I know that this situation is  _fucked_ , but you have to be careful! Ryan is very possessive…and he’s also sensitive even if he doesn’t show it. I think he really is interested in you.”

"I’m sorry, I don’t want to hurt Ryan! It wasn’t my idea to have him anyway! But this is great, right?" Gavin stood from the bed, completely nude. Kerry’s face heated up. "You can keep Ryan, and I’ll stay with Michael and Lindsay forever."

"Yeah, tell Ryan to keep his fucking hands off our Gavvy." Michael tugged the prince back into bed, Lindsay immediately pulled him so that his head was in her covered lap. She stroked his frayed hair gently, he wrapped his arms around her waist. 

"No, no, and no! As much as I’d like that, it’s not going to happen. You have your duties, and I have mine." Kerry looked down a bit sadly. "Besides, a squire will never be with a king."

"We could work something out I’m sure." Michael shrugged. 

"You don’t understand, King Ryan will not let that happen." Kerry shook his head. 

"Fuck Ryan." Michael frowned. 

"Michael, you think that he wanted to kill you just for dropping your sword?" Kerry walked across the large room to the bed. "Well, guess what? I think that Ryan is genuinely interested in the idea of being with Gavin. I’m not sure why, but my king is."

"So?" Michael rose an eyebrow.

"If he’s fucking willing to kill you over a dropped weapon, if you even try to take his betrothed…what do you think will happen?" Kerry posed the question. Michael was silenced by it, Lindsay was immediately worried for Michael’s safety, even her own. 

"Um…" Michael uttered. 

"Exactly." Kerry nodded his head and folded his arms again. "My king has ordered you to his quarters immediately, Gavin."

"Me?" Gavin took his head from Lindsay’s lap. "Why?"

"Reasons he has not disclosed to me, I’m afraid. I wouldn’t keep him waiting though." Kerry was honest with the young prince. Gavin groaned and laid back on the soft bed. "My apologies, Gavin."

"Fuck Ryan." Michael repeated as he got out of bed, crossing the floor to his scattered clothing. He picked up his under shirt and shrugged it over his head. 

"I must ask you not to speak illy of my king, he’s actually the only one attempting to behave at this point." Kerry did have a point there, once again, Michael was quiet. "Gavin, I must ask you to get dressed. We’ve already left my king waiting for far too long already."

"Ok, Kerry."

_____________________________

 

Kerry and Gavin walked to Ryan’s room in silence. The squire was having an intense inner dialogue with himself. He knew the king would be able to tell immediately that something was on his mind. Kerry didn’t want Gavin to have to feel the King’s wrath because of it, and he was also very worried what Ryan would do to Michael. 

However, he had little time to dwell on it because the walk ended immediately at Ryan’s door. Kerry and Gavin exchanged a glance as Ryan reached for the handle, turning it and allowing the prince to walk in first. 

"Ah, there you are Gavin." Ryan greeted him. "Good morning."

"Hello, Ryan." Gavin rubbed his arm and looked down. 

 _Fuck, he looks guilty as hell._  Kerry was screaming internally. The exasperated looked must’ve been on his own face as well. Ryan was eyeballing Kerry hard. 

"Squire, is there something wrong?" Ryan’s eyes narrowed. 

"M-my Lord, I-" Kerry was cut off by Gavin stepping forward. 

"I refuse to be a coward and fall to your feet for forgiveness!" Gavin began. "I’ve gone to bed with Michael and Lindsay."

"Both of them? You mean at the same time?" Ryan’s expression was surprised, maybe even a little impressed. 

"That’s right." Gavin folded his arms. "And I damn enjoyed it. I’m fond of both of them…which is why, we could go our separate ways. You with Kerry, and I with the others."

Ryan crossed the room towards Gavin. Even though the prince wanted to stand his ground firmly, hearing the story of how Ryan had no issue holding lives in his hands, he was frightened. The king stood in front of Gavin, with about a foot of space between them. 

Ryan reached forward and held the back of Gavin’s neck in one hand, and with the other, he pulled at Gavin’s shirt. With one hard tug, the buttons clattered the floor and disappeared under the various furniture like startled roaches. 

Gavin was unaware of how hard he was breathing. Ryan smirked as if he could taste Gavin’s blood amongst his tongue. The king leaned forward enough that Gavin could feel his breath on his face. 

Kerry took his eyes away from the scene in front of him. He didn’t want to see what happened next, in case it was too intimate, or too cruel. Whichever. 

But, neither Kerry nor Gavin expected Ryan to do… _that_.


	13. News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Put down the fucking sword, Ryan." Michael said in a low voice. "I knew you were coming."
> 
> "I’ve taught you well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> So, this is the most dramatic fic I've ever written. Oh gosh.  
> Ryan and Gavin are going to have so much fun on their date! Hopefully... <3
> 
> This chapter was longer, sorry for the bit of a wait guys. Enjoy, :)
> 
> And as Always,  
> Thanks for Reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

"Ryan…my buttons." Gavin whined as the king removed his shirt from his body. "What are you doing?"

"Answer me this." Ryan mused, running his finger tips gently down Gavin’s slender throat. The prince shuddered out of fear and the gentle touches at his neck, no matter how much he didn’t want them. Ryan’s eye scanned the prince’s olive skin, looking for any bruises, scratches or bite marks. "Did he mark you?" Ryan circled around Gavin eyeing his neck and torso. 

"Mark?"

"Like these." Ryan padded over to Kerry who flinched as the king tore the shirt open much like he’d done Gavin’s. As Kerry’s buttons clattered to the floor, Ryan removed the remaining fabric from the squire’s body. Gavin’s jaw fell open as he was met with various markings along Kerry’s skin. If Gavin didn’t know any better, he would’ve assumed that Kerry had gotten in a fight with some sort of animal…and lost. Ryan turned Kerry so his back faced Gavin. Even without seeing the squire’s face, he could see the blush peeking from Kerry’s ears.

"You would clearly see them if I had any." Gavin shook his head. "I don’t know what the bloody hell you do to Kerry, but Michael and Lindsay were very gentle."

"I know Lindsay was, but I’m more curious about Michael." Ryan went on. "I thought I’d earned his trust and loyalty amongst the battle field years ago."

"Sire, you did. Michael just-" Kerry tried to diffuse the situation but Ryan shot daggers at him. Kerry was then silenced. 

"Don’t interrupt me," Ryan pointed at Kerry. "You know better."

"My apologies, my Lord." Kerry looked down. 

"Kerry, on your knees by the bath." Ryan hissed, and without picking his head up, Kerry did as he was told. "Anyway, Gavin…what about your legs? Any marks there?"

"No, Ryan." Gavin shook his head again. 

"What did he do to you exactly?" Ryan sat on his bed. Gavin’s face went deep rouge. 

"Ryan that’s personal. I shan’t tell you what he’s done to me-"

"Gavin, tell me." Ryan’s tone turned from demanding to pleading. Gavin was shocked by the sudden change. There was something hurt in Ryan’s voice. Gavin’s heartbeat quickened in his chest. 

"Ryan don’t be upset. He just…" Gavin struggled to say it. He didn’t usually have to describe his sexual prowess with anyone other than the person he’d done it with. Even though he slipped details to Ray sometimes, just to get the young guard to become embarrassed of the subject and chase Gavin away to shut him up. 

"Ok, this is obviously hard for you. Just answer me this final thing…"

"Alright?" Gavin rose an eyebrow. 

"Did he penetrate you?" Ryan looked up at Gavin as he asked. Again, Gavin was rouge.

"No."

"The other way around?" Ryan frowned. 

"Yes, Ryan."

"I’m surprised. Never pictured him as a bottom." 

"He said he switched." 

"So he’s laid with other men?"

"Judging by that statement I’d say so…didn’t think about it at the time but-" Gavin watched as Ryan approached Kerry with a determined stride. "What are you doing?"

"Clockwise or counterclockwise, Gavin?" Ryan asked. 

"For what?" Gavin gasped when Ryan put his foot upon Kerry’s thigh to hold him in place as he ripped the squire’s sword from its sheath. 

"For how I’m going to run this blade through Michael’s throat."

_____________________________

Ryan moved swiftly down the halls like a lion in pursuit. All the while, Gavin and Kerry were at his heels. The squire tried again and again to persuade the king into leaving Michael alone and simply restricting Gavin from being in Michael and Lindsay’s presence. The king paid no mind to Kerry’s words and followed the stone halls until they lead to Michael’s room. 

With all of his force, he burst through the large door. Kerry gasped as the king entered, because on the other side, Michael was standing with blade already standing at attack. Ryan’s face simply twitched into a smirk as he looked from the glimmering blade and into Michael’s eyes. 

"Clever girl." Ryan commented.

"Put down the fucking sword, Ryan." Michael said in a low voice. "I knew you were coming."

"I’ve taught you well."

"Shut your fucking mouth." 

"Make me, or shall I shut yours permanently?"

"You’re all talk." Michael hisses, stepping forward. The air was silent other than the sound of the two men’s blades running against one another’s.

"Michael, don’t push him." Lindsay laid a hand on her betrothed’s shoulder. She couldn’t imagine how Michael could say Ryan was all talk when he’s seen what the king was capable of.  Michael shrugged her off. 

"Stay back." Michael warned. 

"Please don’t do this." Lindsay held her hands to her face as she took a few feet back from him. "Ryan, what is it that you want?"

"To see his blood on this pretty stone floor." Ryan nearly growled the words through his lips.

"Besides that." Lindsay frowned. 

"To have one week with my betrothed without you two taking him to bed." Ryan lowered his weapon. Michael kept his at ready because he knew the king was tricky.

"Technically it happened in his bed, he invited us." Michael smirked as he gave his smart ass remark. Ryan’s brow twitched in anger and he rose the sword again. 

"Michael!" Lindsay shoved passed her betrothed and stood in front of his risen sword. "Ryan, we will accept your request. You do deserve to have your chance with Gavin, seeing as he is indeed your betrothed."

"Good." Ryan nodded.

"However, should he be displeased with your company, or something goes wrong…he will come to us."

"Lindsay, you are so foolish. What you two have with Gavin isn’t love. He’s your pet that you and Michael care for and coddle." Ryan rolls his eyes. "You think he’s cute and cuddly. But where is the passion? I only see that between yourself and Michael."

"Be that as it may, we can learn to be passionate for Gavin. It hasn’t even been a day, what did you expect?" Lindsay smirks. 

"Well, true." Ryan looked over at Gavin. "Of course, our marriage is official kingdom business. Not like the two of you."

"What do you mean?" Michael stands at Lindsay’s side. 

"Banjshire has a number of princes in line before you, Michael. Your many older brothers are in line to become kings all potentially before you as the youngest even has a chance." Ryan explained. "Your marriage to Lindsay is simply what you’re doing for yourself. It’s not a necessary thing to be done to produce an heir or rule a kingdom."

"And you? Gavin is male, he can produce no heir for you." Michael pointed. "Your agreement is simply because of financial and military reasonings."

"So?" Ryan asks. "I take it you haven’t heard the news then…" The king turns away from Michael. 

"News?" Michael raises a brow. 

"Yes, great news in fact. I doubt that even Gavin knows." Ryan meanders around Prince Michael’s room. He runs his fingertips over the detailed polished wood of the bed frame. 

"What news?" Gavin asks. 

"The King and Queen of Achievement City are expecting a baby." Ryan announces.

"What?" The entire room says at the same time. 

"You’re lying." Gavin shakes his head. "Griffon wasn’t able to have children! That’s why…that’s…" Gavin’s mind was racing. “Why they picked me…”

"The child they produce will become the heir of the merged super-kingdom, after Gavin of course." Ryan continued. "Let me explain. I’m the sole air to my family’s kingdom, and Geoff wants to merge kingdoms as it is, to become one large kingdom."

"Ok…" Michael still looked confused. 

"However, Gavin and I must marry to do that." Ryan sits on their bed. "As you’ve pointed out, Gavin and I are both males. Geoff and Griffon’s child, if everything goes well, will rule the super-kingdom when Gavin and I are no longer on this earth."

"Why not get a surrogate?" Lindsay asks. 

"Are you offering?" Ryan smiles.

"No." Lindsay takes a step back.

"Well then," Ryan rose to his feet. "Gavin and I have a date. Michael, we can finish our little scrimmage later." 

_____________________________

Gavin and Kerry followed Ryan from the palace out of the large front doors. The squire and the prince were quiet, Ryan was walking with bold confident strides as usual. The king tossed a glance over his shoulder. He saw the two men both wearing sullen looks.

"Why the long faces?" The king asked. His eyes were bright with enthusiasm. "Cheer up! We finally get to spend time together!"

"Yeah…" Gavin responded as he climbed into Ryan’s carriage. 

"Are you not excited?" Ryan asked, getting into the carriage. Kerry followed. 

"I just…what you said earlier." Gavin shrugged as he looked out the window. 

"About the baby?" Ryan rose an eyebrow. 

"You were lying…right?" Gavin didn’t want to look at the young king. The wildfires that lay behind his unpredictable blue eyes unsettled the prince. 

"Gavin, I wouldn’t lie to you." Ryan turned his head away from Gavin. "I know, that it seems…like I can be heartless and reckless…like I have no self control."

"Yeah, it does." Gavin replied coldly.

"Will you please just listen to me for a moment?" Ryan frowned. "I know that you dislike how I’ve been acting lately…but I’ve never had the chance to really be me…just give me a chance?"

"How can I tell what the real you is?" Gavin rolled his eyes. "You just put on a show for everyone else? Or is the you that tried to kill Michael, the one who ordered people to kill mercilessly, or the one who tore my shirt from my skin…which one is you? Or are they all you?"

"Gavin, I-"

"You really are what they call you…" Gavin shook his head and continued to look out the window as the carriage began to move.

"What do they call me?" Ryan rose an inquisitive brow.

"Mad King Ryan." Gavin sighed. "Where are we going?"

"Town." Ryan responded, sitting back and crossing his legs as he ponded the title he’s been given behind his back. "Mad King Ryan…"

"It’s true isn’t it?" Gavin asked.

"What?" Ryan looked up at the Prince.

"You are a madman."

"Aren’t we all?" 

"Just…answer me if Griffon is really pregnant or not?" Gavin dared to meet the king’s eyes. Ryan simply nodded. "Why wouldn’t she tell me?"

"They didn’t want it to sway your interest in marrying me…which you seem to have none of anyway."

"Why would that matter any?" Gavin leaned his head to the side. "Why would having another heir make me not want to marry?"

"Well, they thought you’d pass up your turn for the crown to give it to the heir. Geoff knew you had no previous interest to marry anyway. But, he thought we’d get along and it’d all work out fine." Ryan smiled sadly. "But it seems like I’ve ruined that possibility."

"You didn’t, it’s not your fault. I just-"

"I shouldn’t have invited Michael and Lindsay, I shouldn’t have gotten absolutely drunk on the first night." Ryan listed off what he’s done wrong. "I shouldn’t have paid attention to anyone but you."

"Ryan…"

"I’m sorry, Gavin." Ryan bit his lip. Was he fighting back tears? "Just give me a chance. Please?"

Ryan held eye contact with Gavin. The Prince’s jaw hung open. He’d never heard Ryan so genuine before. Gavin swallowed hard. 

"Ryan…"

"Please?" Ryan begged  _no one_ , Kerry knew that. The squire tried to pretend not to hear their conversation though he sat directly amongst them. A small smile graced Gavin’s lips.

"Of course." The prince reached across the carriage to Ryan and pat the king’s leg. "Smile, ok?"

"Yes, Gavin." The king smiled gently. 

 

 

Kerry could feel his blood boiling with envy. The king was his. Ryan had been his ever since they were young boys. Kerry had always thought that Ryan would be too abrasive for anyone to take interest in him. However, here Gavin was. Smiling at the king with gentle eyes. He couldn’t believe it. 

But as the squire always has when Ryan did something that he disliked, he bit his tongue and looked straight ahead. 

Pretending he didn’t see a damn thing.


	14. The Burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I love Kerry," Ryan confirmed. "I do, but…"
> 
> "But you have to marry me and put it aside?"
> 
> "Not so much." Ryan shook his head and sat down next to Gavin. "I love Kerry," Ryan said again. 
> 
> "Then be with him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Ryan is trying so hard, and even Gavin is starting to try and I love them for it.  
> Poor Kerry, his feelings for the king are so hardcore. 
> 
> Guys, I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm sorry for, but I feel like I apologize.  
> Maybe I'm apologizing for the wait? It's been a week or so. I'm sorry, work and all. Also I got caught up in my other freewood fic. Long story short, I suck.  
> Speaking of making a long story short, I have to get back to making the shorter chapters! They were easier to update the story with! 
> 
> I have no idea what I'm doing anymore. But, I love you all for tolerating me and reading this story anyway.  
> See you in the next one, my dears :)
> 
> And as Always,  
> Thanks for Reading!  
> ~ThatMavin <3

 

 

 

 

"Did you know that there was going to be a fair today?" Gavin followed Ryan from the carriage. The king gave the prince his hand, assisting him out. 

"That’s why I chose to come here." Ryan said. "Nobody will notice us." 

"Not even in these fine doublets you’ve loaned Kerry and I after destroying our own clothing?"

"Well, I didn’t feel like having you go off to your room." Ryan looked down. "You would have had more time to think of saying no to going out with me."

"I wouldn’t have," Gavin shook his head, running his hands over the doublet. "These are fine fabrics."

"I could get you more like it."

"That’d be-"

"Sire, are you and Sir Free ready to explore the fairgrounds?" Kerry returned from parking the carriage. Ryan turned his head to him. 

"Yes, thank you Kerry." Ryan returned his eyes to Gavin. "Let’s go enjoy the day, Gavin."

"Ok, Ryan." Gavin smiled. 

"Kerry," Ryan began. 

"Yes?" Kerry arched a brow.

"I want you to enjoy the day as well. I’m releasing you of your duties to be free about the fairgrounds. Go off and have fun, meet us at the pub in about 2 hours."

"I’d have more fun with you, my king." Kerry bowed his head. 

"No." Ryan said firmly, Kerry flinched at the harsh tone. "I want time alone with Gavin. Please, dismiss yourself." The king offered his arm to Gavin. Kerry’s eyes followed the prince’s fingertips as they hesitantly ran themselves over the king’s extended arm. As Gavin’s arm encircled the king’s, Kerry felt angry heat boil in his throat as he wanted to curse. He kept his hands in fists at his sides. 

"Yes, Sire." Kerry spoke through gritted teeth. 

"We’ll see you soon." Ryan nodded at Kerry. "Let us go, Gavin."

_____________________________

 

As they walked arm in arm, a small pool of guilt began to fill in Gavin’s stomach. 

"Does it bother you?" Gavin asked. 

"Hm?" Ryan rose an eyebrow.

"To be without Kerry, does it bother you?" 

"Uh, no." Ryan answered the question, though a weird feeling clouded over him as he said it. He knew that a part of him missed Kerry, but it didn’t necessarily bother him to an uncomfortable degree. "Let’s put it this way,"

"Alright."

"Say you were eating your most favorite dessert." Ryan said. "And it’s soooo good,"

"Yeah."

"But then you eat it all. And you’re like ‘man, I wish I had more of that pie’. It’s nothing to toss yourself into the sun about, but it’s more like ‘wow, I can’t wait until I have more pie’."

"So you miss him, but it’s not a big deal?"

"Exactly." Ryan nodded. 

"I can’t help but feel that I’m wedging myself between the two of you…"

"Suggesting a threesome?" The king wore his infamous smirk. 

"Ryan, not now." Gavin shook his head. "I’m trying to be serious. To find out how you’re feeling."

"You want to know how I’m feeling?"

'More than anything right now.” Gavin admitted. “Getting married is a big deal, and I don't think I want to do it. But, I…I would love for you to change my mind.”

"Gavin…" Ryan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was the prince actually willing to take his hand?

"So, just…tell me if I’m getting between you and Kerry."

"There is no me and Kerry."

"Seems like there is." Gavin sighed and sat down on a bench on the edge of the fairgrounds. As he looked up, he saw multicolored booths, and games, food venders. A seemingly endless sea of food and fun. But, he couldn’t take part in it until he had this conversation with Ryan.

"I love Kerry," Ryan confirmed. "I do, but…"

"But you have to marry me and put it aside?"

"Not so much." Ryan shook his head and sat down next to Gavin. "I love Kerry," Ryan said again. 

"Then be with him."

"Let me fucking talk," Ryan laughed. "Damn it, Gavin."

"Sorry, fine."

"Kerry is amazing. I love his touch, his gaze, his scent, his laugh…and damn he’s funny. We have a great time together every moment we’re around each other. He makes me happier than anyone."

"Sounds like love to me."

"Gavin, I swear…"

"Sorry."

"But, he doesn’t make me feel the way you do." Ryan looked away from the prince. 

"That’s ridiculous. How do I make you feel like anything? We’ve just met."

"I know, but I just feel that I would do anything for you." Ryan leaned his back against the bench. "I feel like, I want to get to know you, that I  _need_  to get to know you. So that you’ll trust me, and let me protect you.” He turned back to Gavin. “Do you understand?”

"I don’t." Gavin shrugged. "I  _hear_  you Ryan, but I don’t believe you. Like I said, we’ve just met…and I don’t feel the same.”

"I didn’t say that I expected you to feel the same, and it’s true, we did just meet."

"Then why do you feel this way?"

"I just do."

"Bullshit."

"Gavin,"

"You’re just trying to entice me, so I’ll fall for this whole idea of marrying you and save your family’s kingdom." 

"Why’d you say what you did earlier then?" Ryan inquired.

"What did I say?"

"You said that you wanted me to change your mind, that you were willing to be with me."

"I…" Gavin found himself caught up. "Well,"

"Do you feel anything at all?" Ryan asked. 

"Like what?"

"When you look at me?" Ryan leaned his head to the side. Gavin sucked his bottom lip between his teeth as he looked at the king. He hated to admit it, but his heart had sped up moments ago, just from being near the Ryan. "If you do, then you know what I mean. There’s isn’t much, but there is a start of something between us. Something natural that neither of us anticipated."

"Ryan-"

"If without trying, we have  _something_ , no matter how insignificant, I don’t think we should give up on it…do you?”

"Uh, I — Ryan,"

"You said you would give me a chance, now give it to me." Ryan stood up from the bench. "I’m ready." The king turned to the prince with gentle blue eyes, and for the second time that day, he offered his arm to Gavin. 

Gavin looked up at the king. The man who before stumbled into his life with arrogance and mischievous wit…was now putting his heart on his sleeve and asking Gavin to take it. Every cell in Gavin’s body was vibrating with eagerness. Something about reaching out to take Ryan’s strong arm was setting his body on  **fire**. As he took the king by the arm and followed him into the festivities…he was ready for the  **burn**.


	15. Spring Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ryan," Kerry mused to himself. "I’ve done all I can to please you." The squire reached up his spare hand, running it along the flat side of his sword’s blade. He chuckled as he did so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Sorry for the wait babies, but enjoy another long chapter. I'm sorry for taking so long.  
> There's so much going on, you don't even know. Feel free to yell at me :P <3
> 
> But finally, we have a bit of Freewood fluff, I hope you like it! I don't have much else to say but...maybe watch out for Kerry?
> 
> Yeah...watch out for Kerry. I'm talking to you, Gavin.
> 
> And as Always,  
> Thanks for Reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

"You all have worked enough this afternoon, why don’t you sit down and I’ll make you a treat?" Jack spoke to the kitchen staff as washed his hands. 

"But, Sir…" The group tried to tell Jack that he was being too kind, and that they weren’t allowed to have a break, or eat food that was made with ingredients meant for the royals. Though of course, Jack wasn’t listening to any of it. Besides, one of Jack’s favorite places to offer assistance was in the kitchen. 

Skillfully, he cut up fruit into pretty shapes, like stars and flowers. He sprinkled the fruit lighting with sugar and let it sit at a low heat on the stove stop for a while as he prepared a light flakey crust made of crushed cookies. 

The culinary staff sat watching in amazement as Jack quickly whipped up the pretty dessert. He made individual tarts, adding the fruit as the filling, along with the hand whipped cream from last night’s dessert that was kept in he fridge. As the bearded man plated the treats, he felt arms around his middle and a kiss being placed to the back of his neck. He’d jumped a little at first, but he’d recognize those slender arms and soft lips anywhere. 

"Caiti-"

"You spoil them, you know?" She whispered in his ear, before turning her head to greet them all. "You’re such a good man, Jack Pattillo. 

"Afternoon, M’Lady," The head of the culinary chef rose from her seat. "My apologies, we weren’t slacking off!" She said nervously. "I tried to tell Sir Pattillo that we-"

"You’re not in trouble." Caiti shook her head. "I won’t tell."

"Just enjoy, you all." Jack served the fresh tarts to the group and they ate thankfully. Jack wiped his hands on his apron before taking it off. He felt Caiti pull gently at his arm as she lead him into the empty dining hall. She moved him into the room with such urgency, that Jack became concerned. 

"Is something wrong?" Jack’s brow furrowed, he reached forward and gently pushed Caiti’s long brunette hair from her shoulder causing it to cascade down her back. 

"Well, after Lady Tuggey and Prince Michael finished their meal, I came to ask if they needed anything more…" His wife began. "I heard Michael mention Griffon and Geoff’s baby."

"What?" Jack’s eyes went large behind his glasses. "How on Earth did he know?" 

"I’m not sure, I didn’t want to ask." Caiti frowned. "It’s not polite of me to eavesdrop on the palace’s guests."

"Michael and Lindsay are friend’s of the palace, it’s fine to speak with them a bit more casually." Jack explained, then leaned his head to the side. "Do you think that means Gavin knows too?"

"Maybe, but who would tell him? Geoff and Griffon wanted to keep it unknown for as long as they could."

"Well, we’d have no problem talking to Gavin about it. Where is he?"

"I heard Michael mention that he’d gone with Ryan and Kerry off the palace grounds."

"Damn it, " Jack cursed. "Should we mention this to Geoff and Griffon." 

"It might be bad if we don’t, wouldn’t you say?" 

"My loyalty lies with the King and Queen, so…I suppose I should hold a counsel with them." Jack ran his hand over his ginger hair. "Would you come with me?"

"Must you ask?" Caiti put her hand on her husband’s shoulder, pulling him forward gently to bring her lips to his in a soft reassuring kiss. "Don’t worry, alright? It was a matter of time before the news was to be known anyway." Jack looked into her splendid blue eyes and gave a small smile.

"You’re right, thank you."

_____________________________

The Spring Fair was an annual event and everyone from the kingdom of Achievement City and elsewhere loved to attend it. The entire fairgrounds was decked out in beautiful colors and flowers. The air smelled sweetened by the floral arrangements and the energy was just as vibrant as the intense blue of the sky. It was nearly impossible to feel down during this event.

However, leave it to Gavin to be one of the first frowns to be seen at the fair. He was having fun, don’t get him wrong, but he was jealous of Ryan, who bore several prizes from the game booths. Gavin however, only had one sticker placed upon the back of his hand. He only got one from the kiddie booths that give you a sticker for even trying. He didn’t win that game either. It seemed that Ryan won every game he tried, even though he claimed to have never played them before. 

And now they’d gone through every game booth besides the one they were stood in front of, Gavin was determined to win this game. How hard could it be to knock bottles down with a ball?

_**Very.** _

Ryan leaned against the wooden frame of the booth with a sigh as the young prince tried for the sixth time to toss the ball against the glass bottles in hopes of toppling them. With a grunt, Gavin tossed the ball and hit nothing but the air. Ryan could n’t help but snicker at this. The prince squawked in disbelief.

"This game is bloody rigged, it is!" Gavin slammed his hands down on the surface.

"It’s hard to figure if it’s rigged. You’re not even hitting the bottles." Ryan shrugged.

"Ryan, you’ve already won your games. Help me!"

"If I helped you, you wouldn’t get any stronger." Ryan commented. "Besides, with all of your skill with the bow, you’d figure your aim was better or something."

"I don’t feel the same without my bow." Gavin frowned. 

"You’re going about this all wrong." Ryan came to stand by Gavin’s side. "Which prize do you want?"

"The stuffed dragon." Gavin stated, pointing up at the prize that was displayed alongside all the others. 

"Why do you want…"Ryan sighed. "It’s not important, but listen to me."

"Ok…"

"If you wanted it, then it would already be yours." 

"Huh? That doesn’t even make sense."

"It does." Ryan pointed to the dragon. "Winning a game like this is a lot of luck, a little bit of skill. But it’s mostly determination."

"How will being determined help my aim?"

"Because your aim will be confident, you will be ready to take down every single one of those bottles in a single throw. Right now, your doubt is holding you back."

"But-"

"Take a deep breath, then go again."

"Ryan…"

"Pretend that the dragon is already yours, but you just have to prove it by throwing the ball. Imagine that no matter how you throw, the bottles will fall." Ryan nodded pointing to the ball. "Throw it now, or walk away with nothing."

"Ugh, fine…I don’t think it’ll help but…" Gavin picked up the ball, taking a deep breath as he aimed and tossed the ball hard. 

It hit the first set of bottles at an angle and they toppled into the stack next to them. Gavin’s jaw fell open. He knocked down two stacks of bottles! 

"Ryan…RYAN OH MY GOSH!" Gavin jumped up and down like a child. Ryan had to admit, he didn’t see that of all things happening. But, the smile on Gavin’s face was worth the surprise. 

The man behind the booth scratched his head. 

"Well, you did two stacks…you can pick two prizes, Sir."

"Wow, wow, wow!" Gavin was still bouncing around. "Um, the dragon and…oh!" Gavin laughed as he saw a bull. It had angry eyebrows and a ring in it’s snout, for some reason it reminded him of Ryan. "And the bull, please."

"Sure thing, here you go." The man took the stuffed animals down and handed them to Gavin. "Enjoy, come again."

"Thank you," Gavin took them and turned to Ryan, extending the bull for Ryan to see. "It looks like you!"

"What?" Ryan gave a laugh. "How?"

"He looks muscular and angry." Gavin shrugged. "Also, I really wanted this dragon. It looks like the Ender Dragon legend."

"The what?" Ryan asked, leading Gavin through the crowd. Gavin held onto his arm as to not get separated. 

"You know, the dragon that lives in The End, he’s got purple eyes and kills anyone who dares to visit The End, well if the other Endermen don’t get the person first."

"I have no clue what you’re talking about…but I’m glad you’ve got your Ender Dragon." Ryan chuckled. 

"Do you not have folklore where you come from?"

"I think we’re a far more realistic people, Gavin."

"What the hell is the fun in that?"

_____________________________

As the prince and the king arrived at the pub, they a seated outside at a table covered by an umbrella as they waited for Kerry to arrive. They were a bit early. 

The fair had died down into people dancing to street music as the afternoon turned into evening, and Gavin was thrilled to watch them. He’d thought about it, and he’d never danced like them before. The dances he’d done were slow and restricting. However, these people were free and light. Gavin propped his hands up on his chin to watch. 

Ryan’s eyes were on Gavin, enjoying the look of intrigue on the young prince’s face.

"You like this?" Ryan asked. 

"I, …yes." Gavin nodded. "I’ve never seen anything like it really. Maybe while sneaking out of the palace once." 

"Do you want to try?" Ryan shrugged. "It’s nothing hard to do."

"Ryan!" Gavin’s eyes widened and he turned his head to him. "Don’t joke like that! I could never do this."

"Come on," Ryan stood up, offering his hand.

"Sit down right now." Gavin folded his arms, rejecting Ryan’s hand. 

"Would you come on?" Ryan took a grip on the prince’s forearm. 

"Ryan! I don’t know how to do this!" Gavin was pulled up to his feet by the King’s strong arm. Ryan dragged Gavin to the dirt road where the other people were dancing. Then, he released the prince. Gavin’s eyes kept glued to Ryan as the beat of the music was suddenly expressed in the king’s hips. Every beat of the festive music was found amongst Ryan’s body. The king’s eyes were closed and it was apparent that he cared not who was looking. Gavin blushed and held a hand to his face as he watched Ryan. 

"Ryan!" Gavin called above the music. The king’s eyes flickered open, but he didn’t lose a beat with the music. He flashed his smirk at Gavin before reaching forward and pulling Gavin to him. "What are you doing??"

"Dance with me!" Ryan grinned as he turned Gavin so that they were back to chest, with Gavin in front. As the king held the prince tightly, the movements that were once Ryan’s were suddenly both of theirs. Gavin felt his body heat as Ryan’s hips moved against his own. 

It was unexpected but, being held like this made Gavin feel like he was the only person there with Ryan. The hum of excited voices and music became ambiance and no longer people or things. 

The nervousness bubbled out of Gavin in a burst of laughter. He could feel Ryan’s body shudder with laughter as well.  

Gavin pulled his way from Ryan and stood before him, trying to imitate the way Ryan moved. And that fucking did it, right there. 

Ryan’s lips parted as with a blushed face, Gavin’s swayed himself like a leaf in the breeze. Hips fluid in a circular motion and torso following the movements of his lanky arms. Similarly to when he held his bow and arrow, Gavin again looked like he was in control of his slender body. Ryan was jarred from watching Gavin as he felt hands on his shoulders. Ryan took his eyes from Gavin to glance over his shoulder at who he already knew was Kerry. 

"Sire, I carried your prizes to the carriage! I saw them sitting on the table!" Kerry spoke above the music. Ryan nodded, his gaze returning to Gavin. Kerry’s eyes couldn’t help but notice the fluidity of Gavin’s body.

 _Oh no, he’s hot!_ Kerry scolded himself for having those thoughts about the betrothed of his king. Also, for looking at the man taking Ryan from him in anything other than a neutral manner. Kerry cleared his throat. 

"My King, shall we dine?" Kerry spoke into Ryan’s ear. Ryan again nodded, though he didn’t want to stop Gavin’s fun. However, as if on cue, the music stopped and Gavin clapped along with the rest of the crowd for the band that was playing. 

"You were excellent, Gavin!" Ryan stepped away from Kerry and wrapped an arm around Gavin’s waist. 

"That was so fun! I don’t know where it came from, but I couldn’t stop!" Gavin chirped. "My bloody heart is still racing, I might faint!"

"Dramatic, are we?" Ryan called over his shoulder. "Come along, squire." 

"Yes, Sir." Kerry mumbled trailing behind the king and Gavin. To himself, he silently added. "I’m such a third god damn wheel right now."

 _____________________________

After eating at the pub, which had amazing food that Gavin couldn’t stop raving about, they returned to the palace. Kerry had drank quite a bit, while Ryan and Gavin had none. So, Ryan dismissed the squire to bed so Ryan would walk the Prince to his room. Drunkenly stating his annoyance, Kerry left the King and Prince’s presence.

However, Ryan never got a chance to walk Gavin, because was called into the Great Room by Sir Pattillo, who gave a strange expression to Gavin. The Prince didn’t know what the look was about, but he could hear Griffon and Geoff chattering to Burnie from inside the room. He swears he hears his name being said. 

Sir Pattillo holds his eyes on Gavin he waits for Ryan to enter. However, Ryan turns to Gavin and approaches him with long strides. Gavin freezes as Ryan bring’s his face closer to the prince’s. 

"I would’ve liked to walk you to your room, only to wish you a good night and to thank you for sharing this day with me. But, since I cannot, have a nice rest. I’ll see you in the morning." Ryan spoke in a low voice as if he was murmuring a secret. 

"T-thanks. I had fun." Gavin’s nervous response came forward. Ryan gave a breathy chuckle before closing the space between the two of them. 

He didn’t kiss the prince fully, though he’d like to. Instead, the king touches the corners of their lips. Gavin nearly wanted to turn his head to meet the king’s lips full on. But, he is frozen and Ryan moves away quickly. 

"Good night." Ryan says again before turning on his heels and following Sir Pattillo into the Great Room.

_____________________________

Gavin is smiling like a goof as he walks down the stone hall to his room. He jumps at the sight of Michael sitting in front of the door to his bedroom. Michael picks his head up and smiles. 

"Gavvers, you’re back!" Michael grinned as he rose to his feet. 

"Were you waiting for me?"

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure you were alright." Michael ran his fingers through his curls. "Any funny business?"

"No, it was a really nice day." Gavin held up the prizes from under his arms and shows them to his friend like a child.

"No way! It looks jut like an Ender Dragon!"

"Bloody thank you, Michael! Ryan looked at me like I was insane when I tried to tell him about it." Gavin rolled his eyes, then laughed. 

"He’s never fucking heard of an Ender Dragon?"

"Guess not." Gavin shrugged. 

"Well, Ryan is a strange guy." Michael shrugged also. "Tell me more about your day."

"Ok, Michael." Gavin was happy to have someone to talk to.

_____________________________

As Ryan was speaking with Griffon and Geoff, while Michael was hearing about Gavin’s day…Kerry was in the courtyard. He was still pretty drunk, and talking to himself. He knew better than to play with his sword while intoxicated, though, this time it didn’t stop him from doing so.

He took his sword from its sheath and just enjoyed it. He enjoyed the weight of it in his hand, the way the reflection of the moon along the blade glimmered onto his skin bathing him in moonlight. As he watched the blade, he remembered. Everything. 

"Ryan," Kerry mused to himself. "I’ve done all I can to please you." The squire reached up his spare hand, running it along the flat side of his sword’s blade. He chuckled as he did so. 

"I’ve given you my life, let my world revolve around you and yet…" 

Kerry extended his sword in front of him with a swift swing. The blade hummed as it cut through the air. 

"You have put me aside for a weak prince. He’s fucking weak and you know it. You hate weakness, yet that boy has become yours." Kerry looked up at the palace, wondering what his king is doing inside of it currently. "I’ve done all you’ve asked of me without question." The squire’s voice became a whisper. "I even killed for you."

The laughter returned to the squire, this time louder as he lowered the sword, the blade touching the ground as he bent forward in seemingly endless laughter. As he caught his breath, he held his side. Without standing up fully, he tipped his head, picking it back up as if he was bowing to an audience. 

"And now it seems, that I am the one who has gone mad."


	16. Joel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Yes, Ray. Please?"
> 
> "I need to think about it…"
> 
> "What’s there to think about?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Sorry if this chapter is boring. Just giving you some Joelay background!  
> I thought it would be nice since people were wondering why there was a Joelay tag and no Joelay.  
> But don't worry, there's Freewood in here too!
> 
> Anyway, again, sorry if it was boring. But yay, a quick update for once!  
> -fist pump- Yeah! Getting stuff done!  
> Enjoy sweeties!
> 
> And as Always,  
> Thanks for Reading!  
> ~ThatMavin
> 
> BTW: The village where Joel is from is called Ellison Village after Adam Ellis because why not? Probably spelled Adam's last name wrong, if so I'll fixit later!

"Would you stop staring at me like that?" Ray blushed as Joel gazed at him with a smitten grin. 

"Sorry," The older man responded, leaning forward to place a kiss to Ray’s forehead. "Sometimes I forget that I’m in a relationship with a Ramsey Palace guard. The cutest one there is, by the way." 

"You’re only dating me for my title, am I right?" Ray teased, leaning his back against the cold stone wall. 

"Hm, it’s definitely a plus." Joel shrugged. Ray pulled his lover closer, connecting their lips with urgency. "But dang, if it isn’t their farthest place for you to live. I hardly see you anymore." Joel frowned once the kiss was broken. 

"I’m working on a way to get you here." Ray tried to be reassuring. "Either with a higher up position or a guard like me. But, your swordsmanship is lacking and you’re not too good with being formal-"

"Hey!"

"I’m just saying. Because I am a knight, Burnie says that I’m not allowed to have a roommate that isn’t of the same title, so you can’t move in unless we’re married or you’re a knight. I told you to practice your skills, Joel." Ray gave him a scolding look. Joel immediately looked like a kicked puppy. 

"Why don’t we just get married?"

"I told you I don’t want to marry you just for something like this." 

"It’s not just this! I want to-"

"Shh," Ray silenced Joel as they approached the Great Room. The younger turned to Joel and began grooming him fiercely. 

"Ow, h-hey!" Joel flinched away from Ray’s picking hands. Ray pulled lint from Joel’s dark hair then smoothed it back the best he could. Wet his thumb with his tongue and smoothed the man’s eyebrows. "Ray, ew!" And finally, Ray tucked Joel’s undershirt into his breeches and smoothed wrinkles out of his tunic. 

"There," Ray took a step back and looked at Joel.

"I hate my undershirts tucked in." Joel pouted. 

"You have to look neat."

"I looked fine." 

"Village fine, not palace fine." Ray corrected. 

"Maybe I should just go home, I’m not good enough here." Joel felt discouraged and had no problem showing Ray that he was. The thing Ray loved the most about Joel was that he was never ever afraid to show how he felt. Ray was so tired of trying to read people, but Joel had nothing to read into. Everything he thought or felt graced his never aging face and Ray loved it. 

The guard frowned a bit and got on his toes to kiss Joel softly and slowly.

"Joel," Ray murmured against his lips. 

"Hm?"

"You’re perfect, you’re endlessly wonderful and I’m sorry." Ray sighed, pulling back to touch their foreheads. "I just really, really want them to like you. I hate having you so far away and I just want you here."

"I know."

"Then don’t be sad. I’m not trying to change you, I just want you to be here with me. I’m doing this for us."

"Me too," Joel looked into Ray’s soft brown eyes with his own. "Marry me." 

"Joel,"

"It’d be the easiest way and it’d make me so happy."

"But, Joel-"

"I love you," Joel wrapped his arms around Ray. 

"I love you, too….but marriage? Now?"

"Yes, Ray. Please?"

"I need to think about it…"

"What’s there to think about?" Joel’s question went unanswered as the door to the Great Room opened. Burnie stopped in his tracks as he saw Ray and Joel embraced. 

It’s not that Burnie was particularly hard on Ray, but he had high expectations. Burnie gave a displeased look at Joel, who’s proven to be quiet the gateway to disobedience and troublemaking for Ray, one of the most valuable palace guards. 

"Ray," Burnie greeted them. "Joel." 

"Good day, Sir." Ray bowed gently forward, Joel did not. Ray hissed discreetly at Joel and the older man groaned lightly and followed suit with a bow as well. 

"You wanted to speak with the King and Queen?" Burnie asked the young guard. 

"Yes," Ray nodded. "It’s about-"

"They want to see you, also." Burnie motioned towards the open doors. "Come in."

"They want to see me?" Ray caught a chill down his spine. Were they upset about him sneaking out to see Joel?

"Come in." Burnie repeated. Joel could sense Ray’s sudden unease and he nudged his lover forward. 

"Go on," Joel urged. Ray took a deep breath and held it as he entered. 

_____________________________

Ryan woke up late that morning, finding himself encircled in Kerry’s arms. He glanced over at the young man spooned around him. The king gave a small chuckle and murmured good morning to the sleeping squire. He was about to close his own eyes back but he suddenly heard his door open. Ryan assumed it was a servant or maybe Burnie, but when he looked over his shoulder towards the doorway, he was surprised to see Gavin standing there. 

"Hey," Gavin leaned his weight against the door gently to close it. 

"Oh, uh, morning." Ryan sat up, Kerry’s arms clung to him harder and the squire didn’t let go. The king doesn’t remember Kerry coming into bed that night, he must’ve already been asleep when Kerry arrived. "Are you alright?" Ryan looked at the cautious look on Gavin’s face. 

"Um, yeah."

"Did you fuck Michael and Lindsay again?" Ryan sighed. 

"No, Ryan!" Gavin shook his head. "No, I wouldn’t do that! I agreed to give this week to you…I just feel bad."

"About?" Ryan moved to get out of bed. 

"No, you can stay in bed. Sorry for waking you." Gavin leaned against the door and looked down. "It’s not about Michael and Lindsay…it’s about Geoff and Griffon."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, I heard that they gave you a talking to." Gavin looked up at Ryan. "Was it about me?"

"Gavin, so what if it was?" Ryan asked. "Nothing is wrong." 

"What’d they talk to you about?"

"Nothing important."

"It must’ve been important…" Gavin shook his head. "Jack stared me down."

"But-"

"So just, please tell me what they said."

Ryan sighed, pulling himself from Kerry’s embrace and stepping out of bed. Gavin’s eyes quickly flickered away from Ryan as the king got out of bed nude. Gavin caught a glimpse of the kings bare bottom and the prince cursed internally. Ryan’s body was so… _Ryan’s body_. He had a killer broad shoulder line and his slender waist was just…but his arms were…

Gavin’s head clouds with explicit thoughts as he replays the sight of Ryan’s naked form in his head. Ryan grunts as he balances himself to step into his underpants to at least be somewhat covered. Clad in his underwear, he approached Gavin. 

Gavin blushed a bit, but he was surprised by how unflustered he was. Just a couple days ago, should Ryan had even stood this close to Gavin fully clothed, the prince would have nearly curled away from the king in fear. But now, Gavin felt…different. He was intrigued and slightly nervous to be this close to Ryan. 

"The King and Queen of Achievement City are concerned that my job isn’t being done." Ryan explained. 

"Job?"

"Getting you to agree to marry me." Ryan began. "The King and Queen spoke with Jack and Caiti on the matter the other day. Sir Pattillo and his wife had spoken with Michael and Lindsay, who had no problem giving details on your romp about."

"Oh no…"

"Yeah, so they’re afraid that between the battle of Lindsay and Michael, I am losing and that you’re uninterested in me."

"Ryan-"

"I told them that I’m trying and it’s not easy and that-" Ryan is cut off by Gavin suddenly stepping forward and lacing his fingers behind the king’s neck, pulling him close. 

"Ryan," Gavin whispered gently before closing his eyes and bringing his lips to the king’s. The kiss feels unfamiliar and hesitant. Their lips are barely brushing and Ryan’s eyes are still open. In fact, Ryan’s eyes are more open than they were before from the shock. Gavin slowly ghosts his lips across Ryan’s, not applying any pressure at all. 

"Gavin…" Ryan wraps his arms around Gavin’s waist, finally taking the move of applying pressure to the kiss. Suddenly, the kiss doesn’t feel so unfamiliar anymore. Rather, it felt like something with meaning. The king shuts his eyes upon the second contact and exhales. Ryan can feel the slight moisture of the prince’s lips against his and it makes his skin become risen with goosebumps. Ryan’s never kissed like this before. Never this slow and gentle. Not even with Kerry. 

"Mmm," Gavin hums as he returns pressure to Ryan’s lips with his own. After a few beats, Gavin separates their lips slightly, only to bring them together again briefly. Ryan’s hold on Gavin becomes tighter as the prince separates them again because the king hadn’t wanted to let go. The younger male’s body is trembling slightly. Gavin’s hands unhook from behind the Ryan’s neck and are placed upon the older man’s chest. 

"Let’s just say that I am indeed interested, and I kind of wanted to do that last night." Gavin looked into Ryan’s eyes with a bashful smile.

"Me too," Ryan smiled back. The king’s eyes flickered to the motion happening on the bed. Kerry stirred, but didn’t wake so Ryan returned his attention to Gavin. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah!" Gavin said happily. "I had an amazing dream, it was about me going to The End and battling the Ender Dragon!"

"You and this damn dragon again?" Ryan laughed. 

"Ryan," Gavin frowned. "It’s a really good story if you’d listen."

"I’ll listen." Ryan shrugged. "Doesn’t mean I’ll like it, but I’ll listen."

"Oh, you will like it Ryan, or else." Gavin attempted to do his best intimidating ‘Ryan’ smirk. The older man didn’t understand the expression and rose a confused brow. 

"Are you alright?" Ryan asked. Gavin gave a sigh. 

"I was trying to look like you." Gavin scoffed. "Duh."

"Do I look like I have gas all the time?"

"Shut up." Gavin gave the king a playfully swat to the arm. Ryan responded by pulling Gavin closer by the shoulder and touching his lips softly to the prince’s. Gavin could feel himself giving in to Ryan, the hesitant nature was gone, but the gentleness remained. Gavin feels like, if he wanted to, he could float. His body feels weightless like he’s pouring all of himself into Ryan through his lips leaving his body empty, other than butterflies in his stomach. 

The king pulls back a bit breathlessly this time around. He chuckles a bit then looks in Gavin’s eyes. 

"Sorry, I really like kissing you it seems." Ryan blushes, his tongue jets out to wet his lips. 

"Then don’t stop, Ryan." Gavin steps forward and thrusts his arms around Ryan’s neck. In the back of his mind, Gavin dreaded having to stop kissing Ryan when Kerry woke up. 

_____________________________

Ray stormed out of the Great Room after the long counsel with Geoff and Griffon. He was very disappointed. The King and Queen barely had time to speak with Joel, and all they wanted to talk about was their concern for Gavin and Ryan’s seemingly un-blossoming relationship. Ray knew that as a knight and as a guard, he was sworn loyalty to the royal family. 

Besides, Ray too wanted Gavin to find happiness with the his betrothed. But, the young guard was still upset. Ray had been hoping that Geoff and Griffon would get this chance to see what a great man Joel was. It was rare that Joel could come to Achievement City, usually Ray made the trip to Ellison Village to go see Joel. So, since Joel was in town, Ray introduced Joel to the Ramsey’s to convince them that Joel was worthy of a title, and if not a title, then at least a residence in Ray’s room or in the kingdom of Achievement City. 

However, they did meet Joel and found him to be a kind gentleman. But, due to their pressing topic of Gavin, they didn’t really listen to what Ray had to say and dismissed him without giving him another chance to speak. 

Once he was outside of the Great Room, Ray cursed loudly. Joel flinched at the noise and looked down. Even though it was no one’s fault, Joel still felt guilty. He felt like he could’ve done something to change the meeting’s outcome. If he was more interesting, or skilled. If he was some sort of fancy noblemen or royal they might have listened to Ray and took more time to discuss Joel’s future in Achievement City. 

But, he was just Joel. He was a simple man from the town of Ellison, a farming village near Banjshire, the kingdom ruled by Michael’s family. Joel’s family was very poor when he was a boy. Once his parents passed away when he was a teen, Joel went on to become a teacher. Earning a decent pay, and being able to give “How To” lessons with his assistant Adam, with whom he’d become good friends. The lessons were often not of normal school things like math or history. Rather, survival in pressing situations, and crafting demos. Joel had a natural way with building things, large or small and really enjoyed it. Every day was fun and the pay was fine, so he didn’t complain. 

Still, even though his life was pretty simple, it didn’t become extraordinary until he met Ray. Their meeting was something done by fate. Otherwise, Joel probably would have never settled down and found such happiness. Ray was like his other half. The part of himself that was missing for a very long time. 

_____________________________

Ray and Joel met when the younger male was paying a visit to Ellison Village as he liked to whenever he got the chance. Ellison is know for its underground sword tournaments that are held several times every month. Ray is probably one of the best skilled swordsmen around, and that’s not said in a bragging manner. He literally puts seasoned professionals to shame. 

Joel never enjoyed watching the matches because he didn’t like to see people get hurt, especially over nothing. He couldn’t wrap his head around someone going into an actual sword fight for fun. If he wanted to get sliced up all he would have to do is attempt to slice a tomato. He was fine with cutting everything else, but for some reason every time he tried to cut a tomato he’d hurt himself. 

Anyway, Joel’s friend Adam was really pushing Joel to come along with him to watch the sword fights and have a few rounds of beer. With a disgruntled groan, Joel came along. When they arrived, Joel saw the men in the ring, swinging swords at each other. He could tell already that he was going to be disinterested.The men were large and brooding. With beards and huge muscles and the testosterone was thick in the air. Big foolish men playing a big foolish game.  

Joel was barely watching the match and didn’t quite feel like drinking. He was going to get up and go sit outside for a moment to get out of the musty bar, but when he got out of his seat, he bumped into someone and they fell. 

"Oof," The person uttered as they hit the ground. 

"Oh hell, I’m sorry." Joel looked down. The person before him looked too young to even be in the bar, and Joel chuckled at the way they scrunched up their face as they rubbed their lower back. "Are you ok?" Joel offered the young man a hand to help him up. 

"Will you fucking watch where you’re going, asshole?" Came the response. "I can’t get injured before a match, it’ll lessen my chances of winning."

"Uh," Joel was thrown off by the sharp tongue. Even though the young man’s words were threatening he said them between a contagious laugh as he took Joel’s hand. As he stood up, he was still short and pretty scrawny. "Hold on, you’re competing in this?" Joel motioned to the circle of muscled men growling like bears and swinging large swords at each other. 

Ray looked to where Joel pointed then returned his eyes to the older man. Ray nodded. 

"What’s your name?" Ray asked, still holding onto Joel’s hand. 

"Joel," 

"I’m Ray," Ray smiled a very friendly toothy grin, shaking Joel’s hand. "By the look on your face, I’m guessing that you don’t think I have a chance?” 

“To be honest, no.”

“Well-”

“I mean, you’re the smallest one in the entire bar. Amongst the competetors and the bystanders.”

“Size doesn’t matter, it’s skill.” Ray frowned.

“I’m pretty sure size matters when there’s a man much bigger than you and he’s charging at you with a sharp weapon.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Not really, just take my advice and go home.”

“No way! I came here to fight!” Ray grinned, motioning to his sheath on his hip. 

“Ray, that was your name, right?” Joel confirmed. “I’m just looking out for your safety…”

“I’ll look out for yours by not slicing your head off.” Ray chuckled. “Tell ya what, if I win my match-“

"I’ll buy you a drink." Joel offered. 

"I don’t…do that." Ray shook his head. “Drink, I mean.”

"Oh, well-"

"If I win, buy me food." 

"Food?"

"Yeah, I’m dumb and I left my money at the motel. I’m not from around here.” Ray began. “It’s late at night and no other place is open but this bar and I really need to eat something."

"I could buy you food even if you lose then." Joel shrugged. 

"Nah, I want to earn it." Ray shook his head then finally let go of Joel’s hand. "See you after the match."

_____________________________

Needless to say, Ray came out of the match victorious and Joel couldn’t believe it. He’d never seen such fine swordsmanship. Joel explained to Adam that he was to treat the young victor to a meal, and that Adam was welcome to stay if he wanted to. Adam refused, saying he just wanted to get home and go to bed, he’d had one too many. That left Ray and Joel alone. Joel brought Ray more food than the young man asked for, and they feasted while Joel went on and on about how amazing Ray was. Ray did nothing but blush and continue eating. 

After that day, Joel went to every sword fight in hopes to see Ray. He almost lost hope of seeing the young man again when weeks went by with no sign of him. However, finally, one day Ray showed up and Joel scolded him playfully for not coming around sooner. It was then that Ray explained that he was a palace guard and leaving his post was a rarity and that he could only come once a month. He also apologized for leaving Joel hanging, he hadn’t known that Joel was interested in seeing him again. 

Somewhere between Joel stammering that he wasn’t ‘that interested’ and that Ray’s job was cool, Ray silenced him with a kiss. Joel hadn’t received a kiss in a long time, nor had anyone ever made the first move on him. Everything about Ray was new, refreshing. Ray had enough energy to super charge the sun, yet here he was using it to kiss Joel. 

Every month Joel looked forward to seeing Ray again, and every month without fail, they saw each other. In between those times of seeing each other, they wrote letters. After a year of this had gone by, rather quickly, Joel wanted to ask Ray where they stood as far as relationships go. When he had trouble asking the question, and Ray knew what he was getting at, Ray placed a kiss to the older man’s stubbly jaw and said “Don’t worry, Joel. I’m yours.”

_____________________________

Presently, after being dismissed from The Great Room, Ray was given the task of going to check on Gavin. Joel followed Ray to the prince’s room, but he was not there. 

"He’s probably with Ryan then," Ray shrugged, holding Joel’s hand as they walked down to the other wing together. Upon arriving at Ryan’s room, Ray knocks. "Hey, Ryan! It’s Ray, is Gav in there with you?"

"Ray!" Gavin ran to open Ryan’s door, running into the guard’s arms. Gavin looks up from Ray’s shoulder. "Oh, hi Joel!"

"Hey, Gavin." Joel ruffled the prince’s hair. As Joel picked up his head, he saw Ryan standing in the doorway, still lacking all clothing but underwear. "Hello, Ryan." Joel greeted the king.

"It’s been a while." Ryan folded his arms leaning in the doorway. 

"Does Ryan bloody know everyone?" Gavin asked Ray. 

“Joel did Ryan a favor during the war on King Ryan’s kingdom a few years back. The one that Michael took part in.” Ray dished out the few details, whilst watching Ryan and Joel exchange looks.

"How’ve you been?" Joel directed the question to the king casually, running his hands over his own hair. 

"Well," Ryan nodded. "I’ve been doing pretty well."

"Great." Joel and Ryan held each other’s stare. 

"Did you ever do that favor I’d asked of you?" Ryan rose a brow. Joel finally broke the eye contact, looking down and chuckling. 

"I did, actually." Joel looked back to Ryan. "I needed a bit of help, but it’s done."

"Excellent, it’s a shame that I haven’t had the chance to collect it from you."

"It’s not too late." Joel shrugged. 

"You haven’t sold it?"

"No, I made you a promise. So, I couldn’t do that."

Gavin looked between the king and Joel as they silently stared at each other. The prince whistled a three note tune as the awkward tension built up between Ryan and Joel. Finally, he broke the silence.

“Soooo, is anyone going to say what this favor was…or?” 

 


	17. What to Do...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Arranged marriages usually have set dates for the wedding, right?"
> 
> "Yes…standardly speaking." Geoff answered.
> 
> "What is the date of Ryan and Gavin’s wedding?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> I'm so sorry about the long wait. You guys probably thought I forgot about you, huh?  
> My apologies...just life in general...it's just. -sigh- You guys have no clue.  
> So, enjoy and I'll talk to you all soon in the next one?
> 
> I love you, thanks for your understanding :D
> 
> ALSO, there's a little hot and heavy moment in here. This story is tagged smut, but again, this isn't super graphic. It's just 'intimate' if that's the right word. So you've been warned here AND in the tags. 
> 
> Ok, enjoy!
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for Reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

Jack stood behind Queen Griffon as she sat in front of her mirror. As he stood behind her, he passed a brush through her blonde hair gently. Griffon’s eyes closed for moments at a time as her body relaxed. She loved to have her hair brushed or played in. Not many people knew that, not many people touched the queen. Mostly because few people were allowed to get close to her. Not just because she was royalty, but also because Geoff was easily a jealous man. He wasn’t usually, but watching other’s massage his wife’s scalp really set him on edge. 

But, Geoff trusted Sir Pattillo and he has for a long time. Jack has always taken care of Geoff and Griffon, he knew them both so well. The entire morning, Jack could tell that something was wrong with Griffon, perhaps something on her mind. Or maybe she wasn’t feeling well. However, once they were alone, Jack finally had the nerve to ask. 

"Is something wrong?" Jack suddenly asked, the queen opened her blue eyes. 

"Hm?" Griffon looked into the mirror where she and Jack locked eyes. 

"You’re quiet today."

"I’m thinking." Griffon sighed. "Really though, I feel guilty."

"About?"

"Gavin," Griffon admitted. "With everything, putting him through an arranged marriage, talking with his friends behind his back instead of asking him things directly…but especially about keeping the baby news from him."

"Oh…"

"Yeah," The queen sighed. "Gavin is just as much apart of our family as this baby is going to be, and we’ve literally spoken with everyone in the palace about the pregnancy besides him."

"Then speak with him," Jack shrugged. "Your majesty, you have every right to be apprehensive about this, but if it’s causing you stress, you should talk with your son."

"You’re right, Jack. You always are." Griffon gave a small smile. “Thank you.”

_____________________________

Gavin pulled on Ryan’s arm as the king and Joel continued to talk. They talked as if Gavin and Ray weren’t even standing there. Ray was content to lean against the wall and listen, however Gavin was losing his mind. The Prince was a naturally nosy individual. Ray instead was very passive and didn’t mind keeping to himself. 

"Did it take you a while to craft that in my absence?" Ryan mused further into the topic of whatever the ‘favor’ was. Gavin whined with the unquenched thirst of curiosity. 

"Well, it took a while, yeah. I didn’t have my help at the time.” Joel rose an eyebrow. “I didn’t tell you about my apprentice, did I? He’s a dumb lazy kid, but he’s pretty helpful when he wants to be."

"You have an apprentice?" Ryan asked, judging by his tone, he was surprised. "Joel ‘Lone Wolf’ Heyman has an apprentice?"

"What is that supposed to mean? I’m not a lone wolf. I’ve had Adam around for a long ass time." Joel folded his arms. 

"Eh," Ryan shrugged. 

"Hmph." Joel grumbled playfully, a smirk on his face. "I should probably hide my apprentice away from you, I don’t want you taking him on as one of your toys."

"Nonsense," Ryan laughed. "I have Gavin and Kerry. My quota is full."

"Good." Joel offered an idea. "Hey, when are you going back to your kingdom?"

"At the end of this week, why?"

"Maybe I could bring my apprentice over to meet you." Joel suggested. "He could use some combat skills. He’s horrible with a sword."

"So is Gavin," Ryan nudged his betrothed. "He nearly fell over when he picked one up. I think it weighs more than him."

"That sounds just like my apprentice," Joel laughed. "He’s great with a crossbow though."

"Gavin’s awesome with a regular bow." Ryan turned to Gavin. "Are you good with a crossbow?"

"Never, um...tried one." Gavin shrugged. "But, tell me the favor Joel did! I bet it was something cool! I have always heard of master crafters, but I’ve never met one! I wanna hear about the things Joel does!"

"I could tell you about crafting." Joel says. "But, I’m no master, like Monty Oum. Crafting for me is just kinda my hobby."

"Could you teach me to craft?"

"Maybe…" Joel sighed. "I already have one kid in my shop who clumsily slaps items together."

"Awesome!"

"Are you going with Ryan back to his kingdom?" Joel asks Gavin.

"Yeah," Gavin nods.

"Well, maybe I’ll bring a crafting table and my apprentice will teach you what he knows, then you two can work on getting better at crafting together."

"Oh my gosh!" Gavin beamed.

"Maybe Gavin could make a sword and actually be able to use it." Ryan rolls his eyes. 

"Maybe," Joel laughs. "Ray?"

"Hm?" Ray looks up. Joel raises a brow, Ray knows what it means. "Alright." He nods.

"Ray and I are gonna get outta here." Joel announces. 

"We’ll see you later tonight?" Ryan asks. "Or are you headed home?"

"Nah, I’ll probably stick around." Joel answers, shaking the king’s hand. 

"Good," Ryan smiles. 

As Joel and Ray walk off, hands held, Ryan turns back to Gavin. The king chuckles when he realizes the way Gavin is looking at him. A scowl on his young face, arms folded. 

"What’s with you?" Ryan rolls his eyes playfully, he already knows what it is.

"Tell me what Joel did! It’s not fair that you-" Gavin was cut off by a kiss pressed to his lips. The prince was just about to close his eyes, but in his peripheral vision, he saw Ryan’s bedroom door open. A disheveled looking Kerry stood behind them. With a gasp, Gavin jumped back. He wiped the back of his hand against his mouth as if wiping the kiss away would erase it from Kerry’s memory. 

Ryan however was not disturbed by Kerry having seen him and Gavin sharing a kiss. He was actually rather amused, curious to see what the squire would do. The young ruler heard feet shuffling as Gavin came to stand behind him. 

Kerry looked from Gavin to Ryan. Then, with a yawn, he closed the door slowly. Gavin’s eyes widened, and Ryan turned to look at his startled betrothed. 

"Well, that was anticlimactic." Ryan commented, a bit disappointed by Kerry’s reaction. So, he opened the door to follow after his squire. Gavin was close at the king’s heels. 

_____________________________

Back in Ray’s room, the knight watched as servants, each carrying a bucket of heated water, filled the bath. Joel was already undressing, eager to enjoy his favorite part of visiting Ray, other than just being with his boyfriend, naturally. 

Ray was a little embarrassed to have Joel be nearly nude in front of the servants, but the way Joel didn’t seem to care was rather attractive for some reason. 

When Joel noticed Ray fondly looking at him, he smirked. 

"What?" Joel asked. 

"Nothing," The knight laid onto his bed. "I’m just glad you’re here."

"Mmm," Joel crawled across the bed. "Why aren’t you getting ready for our bath?"

"Because, a-ah…" Ray nearly whimpered when Joel’s lips hit the crook of his neck. It was a very sensitive spot for the young knight.

"What was that?" Joel taunted. 

"There are people here…" Ray looked over Joel’s broad shoulders at the two servants left filling the tub. "They’ll be gone soon, can’t you wait?"

"No." Joel wasted no time sugar coating the situation. Rather there were servants or not, Ray’s clothes were coming off. 

Ray closed his eyes as he felt Joel nudge his knees apart so he could fit himself between them. He faintly hears the servants tell him that they’re done as they head out. Ray’s eyes open again and he nods to them. 

"Perfect timing, they almost saw your pretty bare skin." Joel smirks into Ray’s neck. 

"You’re horrible." Ray comments, pulling himself into a sitting position. "Let’s get you a bath."

“ _Us_.” Joel corrects.

"Us." Ray agrees.

~*~

 

Joel gets into the bath first, moaning deeply as he sinks into the warm water, the heat relaxing the tension in his overworked muscles. Ray smiles down at him, running a hand against Joel’s jaw. The older man’s brown eyes flicker up to Ray’s.

"Get in." Joel demands, offering a hand up to him. Ray quickly obliges, hissing at the hot water, before sighing into it as he lowers himself onto Joel, so that they were back to chest. Joel’s hands reach around Ray’s middle and hug him tightly. "God, I’ve fucking missed you."

"I know." Ray murmurs reclining completely against Joel. 

"If you married me, we could do this everyday." 

"I know." Ray says again, but he doesn’t speak anything more on the subject. Joel knew he wouldn’t. 

"Let’s get clean." Joel strains to reach a bottle sitting on a wooden stool outside of the bath. As he bring it to his nose to smell the scent, he hums. It smells of lavender and other warm spices. This was the scent he always found on Ray. Joel loved it so much.

Ray was content to feel Joel massaging his skin clean. Joel’s hands started at the base of his neck, kneading gently at the muscles, Ray sighed. Apart from Joel’s hands working his neck, and then down to his sides, Ray could feel another part of Joel started to gently press against him. Ray chuckled. 

"Sorry," Joel laughed too. 

"Hm," Ray hummed rotating himself in Joel’s arms, their slick bodies passed over each other smoothly. When Ray was chest to chest with Joel, they began kissing. The sudden motion in the bath sent water sloshing to the stone floor. This made the two men laugh as well. Their hands fumbled over one another seemingly aimlessly. They were a mess of tongues and teeth and hands and wet. 

"Joel, fuck—" Ray cursed as he felt a strong hand wrap around his member. Once Joel’s hand had wormed its way between their bodies to stroke the knight, he did so in a teasingly sporadic pace. 

"Ray," Joel purred. "I think we should’ve asked for a bath a little later, by the time we get back in, it’ll be cold."

"Who said we’re getting out?” Ray played innocent. 

“We both know that we are.”

Yeah,” Ray nodded, diving back down to kiss Joel. “You’re right, it’s a fucking shame to have had all of those servants prepare this lovely warm bath for us.”

"It’s also a shame that it’s just about noon, and we’re probably going to spend all day in bed."

"Well," Ray grunted as Joel’s grip got tighter around him. "I just want to be with you."

_____________________________

The noon sun was too warm out on the courtyard, however on the terrace, the shade of the palace kept the couples nice and cool as they ate their meal. Geoff smiled fondly at Jack, as the bearded man told a story. Caiti and Griffon listened as well, laughing at the funny bits. Especially when Geoff would make a snarky comment, poking fun at his friend. 

All of the light hearted fun was interrupted when Burnie came out onto the terrace. He held a letter in his hands. 

"I’ve just gotten word from Ryan’s kingdom." Burnie announced. Griffon cut her eyes to Geoff and then back to Burnie. Geoff wiped his napkin against his lips then rose from his seat. 

"What’s going on?" Geoff asked. 

"Monty Oum is the man Ryan’s left in charge of his throne while he is away. He’s the commander of Ryan’s military, trained in combat and weapon crafting." Burnie begins. "As he is in charge, he is dealing with a bit of the king’s official business. Several other kingdoms are attempting to take down Ryan’s kingdom because with the lack of heirs, if they take out Ryan, the kingdom is ‘ripe for the picking’."

"Take his kingdom down how? His military is strong, they can fight the other kingdoms off, right?"

"Hopefully they can.” Burnie confirms. “And, since Ryan is here, they won’t be able to take him down, hopefully.”

“So that’s good, right?” Geoff inquires. 

“Ryan is safer here, but not for long. If they find out that Ryan is here, it will make us a target and our military isn’t as strong.”

"Which is another reason we wanted to merge kingdoms.” Geoff points out. “Ryan’s military is far stronger and larger than ours. Plus, the neighboring village of Ellison joins them up for serious battles. As well as Banjshire."

"Yeah but Military and wealth is all they really have. Those kinds of things don’t really make for good trade. Monty has been offering trade agreements but because the kingdom produces so little…" Burnie grimaced. "The other kingdoms are suggesting war, if that’s what it takes to receive the kingdom, and Ryan’s wealth."

"War?" Geoff’s eyes went wide. "We can’t have that!"

“No, we can’t.” Jack chimed in from the table. 

“Monty Oum crafts weapons proffesionally, can’t they trade those?” Geoff suggests. 

“Monty specializes, he doesn’t mass produce for trade.” Burnie informs the king. “Nor would it be wise to give the enemy specialty weapons to kill Ryan with.”

“Oh…” Geoff looked down.

"Geoff…" Griffon rises. "If we continue intertwining our affairs with Ryan’s, without the marriage taking place, then we’re to become a target as well…and with the baby on the way."

"I know," Geoff frowns determinedly. "This marriage needs to happen."

"Or we have to be done with Ryan completely, and just let his kingdom parish." Griffon’s eyes narrowed.

"Griffon!" Geoff’s jaw hangs open. "We’ve known the kid practically his whole life! We’re like another set of parents for him! We can’t just-"

"We don’t owe him anything." Griffon holds a hand protectively over her stomach. Her hand remains held to her small baby ‘bump’. "We have a baby to protect now."

"Griffon, just wait until we talk to Gavin." Geoff shakes his head. "We have a lot to talk about, and Monty didn’t seem to think that the danger was immediate, right?"

"Well, it didn’t sound urgent. He just had one question, really." Burnie shrugs. 

"Which was…?"

"Arranged marriages usually have set dates for the wedding, right?"

"Yes…standardly speaking." Geoff answered.

"What is the date of Ryan and Gavin’s wedding?" 


	18. Plans Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Gavin, I need to t—" Ryan’s eyes widened as he looked at Gavin’s water-tight see-through underwear. "Have mercy…"
> 
> "What’s up, Ryan?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> I apologize again for the wait. I've been so caught up in my story Something Different, and I'm so so so sorry. 
> 
> Anyway everyone, please say hello to Joel's apprentice! I love him as a character and I can't wait to introduce him to everyone else, he's such a sweetheart. Everyone who guessed his possible identity was right :)
> 
> Next chapter will be Gav finally touching base with Geoff and Griffon and then MAYBE Ryan, Kerry and Gavin heading out to begin their journey back to Ryan's kingdom. Either that, or the journey will begin in the chapter after that. 
> 
> That's all :)  
> Talk to you all soon!
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for Reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

"Ok, I can do this, right?" The apprentice ran his fingers through his brunette hair. "I mean sure, Joel isn’t here…but…that doesn’t mean anything." 

He opened the crafting menu and grinned as he sees that he’s gathered the right materials to make the iron armor for the costumer. Well, how could he mess this up? All he needed was iron. 

"You’ve got this?" Adam asks from behind the counter, where he’s updating the order book that Joel keeps. In Joel’s absence, Adam ran the store, and watched over the apprentice. 

"Yeah, yeah." The young man responded. 

"Ok because if you need any help, you can feel free t-" Adam was cut off by a loud curse.

"FUCK!" The apprentice yells loudly and Adam runs from behind the counter. "Damn it, Joel was right! I’m no fucking good at this!"

"What’d you do, Miles?" Adam sees the apprentice standing on the stool to keep his feet away from the hot molten metal. "How…?" Adam stood wide eyed. 

"I don’t know!" The younger man throws his hands up. "I got a little excited I guess…and over filled the mold."

"Well," Adam goes to the filled helmet mold, scraping away the overflow before the mold cooled. "On the bright side, you poured the metal at just the right temperature. The helmet will be very sturdy, with a shiny finish." Adam complimented the apprentices work.

"But Adam…I fucked it up."

"No you didn’t, keep trying. You think Joel and I haven’t spilled molten ore before? At least you don’t have any burn marks on your skin as a result. You’re doing just fine." Adam opened his arms to Miles to help him down from the stool. Miles took a leap, Adam caught him and set him down on his feet. "Scrape the metal up before it hardens, chisel it apart if it does. Then, make the chest piece."

"Ok," Miles nodded.

"I’m going back up to the front." Adam pointed towards the front of the store.

"Ok." Miles says again, still looking a bit shaken up form his mistake.

"Hey, it’s alright. You know?" Adam says. 

"I just-" Miles was cut off by the sudden bear hug he found himself in. He relaxed, eyes closed and sighing. 

"Everything is fine, learn from your mistakes and keep going forward." Adam smiles. Sometimes Adam and Joel were better family than the one Miles left back in Banjshire.

"Alright." Miles took a deep breath. "I can do this." 

"You can do this." 

"Thanks, Adam." Miles smiled into the man’s shoulder. He stepped back ready to get to work, give the next mold a try. Adam ruffled the younger’s hair.

"Don’t mention it." 

~*~

Miles was actually born in Banjshire, the kingdom that belongs to Michael’s family. However, the kingdom is well known for it’s knights and warriors. And Miles…wasn’t really good at those sort of things. He wasn’t good at close range combat or defending a whole kingdom. However, sniping with a crossbow, he was golden. 

When Miles told his family that he’d rather find a niche in life, something to give him income, his parents were not impressed. They wanted all of their children to have big titles, for them to be ‘known’ throughout the kingdom. Miles told them again that, that form of lifestyle just wasn’t for him. They said fine, but he couldn’t stay home and be ‘useless’. 

At that, Miles left home. He went looking for work. 

He tried many odd jobs before stumbling upon Joel giving a crafting lesson to some students with Adam in Ellison village. Miles listened in, amazed by how well they explained the techniques and how much the students were enjoying the lessons. He also enjoyed how funny the two men were teaching together. 

When Miles approached Adam and Joel after the lesson, Joel quickly offered Miles a place to stay…much to Miles and Adam’s surprise. Adam wasn’t into it. He’d been just fine living on his own with Joel for years and the only other person to stay with them for short periods of time was Ray. And, Adam got along with Ray. 

Joel claimed to have a good feeling about Miles and thus, the young man moved in and soon became their crafting apprentice. It was a good thing that Adam and Joel didn’t need ‘real help’ because Miles wasn’t very good at the skill. He was learning at turtle speed, but still he was at least learning something. So his help was appreciated nonetheless. 

Oh, and Adam warmed up to Miles almost immediately. They were soon inseparable. Always laughing and hanging out together. Miles hadn’t really had best friends before, and to be his first, Adam was a fine choice to have made. 

_____________________________

"I’m afraid so, your Majesty." Burnie bowed his head respectfully after delivering the news to Ryan. The news about the threats and potential attacks on his kingdom. Ryan simply smirked at the letter as he read over it. Monty’s letter made him chuckle even. 

"I suppose I’ve stayed too long." Ryan announces as he stands from his seat. 

"What do you mean, Sir?" Burnie looked puzzled. 

"Monty is a good man, one of the best even. But, he’s not fit to handle this kind of issue in my absence. I’m going to have to return early to my kingdom. Relieve Mr. Oum of my duties."

"Do you feel that is the best option?" Burnie inquired. "You might be safer here."

"Yes, but the safety of my people is far more important than my own." Ryan frowned determinedly. "People are such animals when they are filled with greed."

"That is true, Sir."

"Thanks for delivering me the news, Mr. Burns. You have been good to me during my stay." Ryan began walking down the hall. 

_____________________________ 

Kerry turned his head towards the door as it opened. Ryan came into their bedroom with a quick pace. Though Kerry still seemed distant, he remembered his loyalty which remained with Ryan. 

"My King, is something wrong?"

"Please begin packing, Kerry." Ryan closed the door behind him.

"Yes, Sire." Kerry got up from the comfortable bed. "But, may I ask why? I thought we weren’t leaving until this week’s end?"

"That was the plan, yes. But things have come up." Ryan states. "Monty has informed us of dangers possibly effecting my kingdom’s wellbeing and I must return, get a handle on things."

"Yes, Sire." 

"Where is Gavin, do you know?" Ryan looked over his shoulder. "Last I saw he was here with you."

"He’s left to the pond with Michael and Lindsay." Kerry informs the King. "I believe Ray and Joel are with them as well."

"Ah, well I’ll have to go break the news to them also."

"Yes, um, when exactly do you want to leave?" Kerry began folding the kings clothing and placing it neatly into his suitcase.

"I…I’m not sure." Ryan held a hand against his face. "I don’t know if there will be enemies awaiting my return. Should we sneak our way back into the kingdom?"

"That is a possibility, Sire."

"The letter was written two days ago and just arrived now. Who knows how things may have worsened in that time."

"That could be…"

"I hope everything is alright." Ryan frowns. "Should we go at nightfall to be more discrete?"

"That might be best."

"I’m going to go find Gavin." 

_____________________________

Michael couldn’t help himself from staring at Gavin, watching as the younger male waded through the water after Ray. Gavin had stripped himself of nothing more than underwear. The undergarments clung to his skin, becoming quite see-through as they got wet. Gavin of course, being the innocent mutt that he is, didn’t notice and continued to frolic through the water. 

Lindsay laid on the wooden dock, letting the afternoon sun warm her skin. 

Joel chuckled watching Ray get splashed in the face by Gavin. 

"Get em back, babe!" Joel called to his lover. Ray spit out the water that was splashed into his open mouth. 

"Gross, no fair!" Ray laughed too. 

"Take that, Narvaez!" Gavin responded, catching a glimpse of something red out of the corner of his eye. He turned completely to see what it was. It was Ryan and his red doublet. "Ryan!" He waved. 

"Gavin, I need to t—" Ryan’s eyes widened as he looked at Gavin’s water-tight see-through underwear. "Have mercy…"

"What’s up, Ryan?" Gavin asks. 

~*~

Gavin wasn’t really expecting Ryan to request everyone to hold counsel in the Great Room. Gavin and Ray were wrapped up in fine robes to keep warm in the stone palace after playing in the pond. Ray was currently curled up in Joel’s lap like a kitten. Michael and Lindsay sat with Gavin between them. Ryan didn’t particularly like Gavin’s placement between the two of them, but it wasn’t the time to comment on it. 

Burnie stood beside Ryan in front of the group. He looked stern as usual when something was going on, so Gavin’s brow furrowed.

"What’s going on, Ryan?" Gavin spoke first. 

"I am so glad you asked, Gav." The young king smiles a bit sadly. "I was hoping that since we’re all friends here, I can be perfectly honest with you."

"Sure, what’s going on?" Michael rose his brow. 

"Well, things aren’t going as smoothly in my kingdom as I’d like. We’re getting attack threats, and people are fighting to have my head on a silver platter."

"Fuck them." Michael cursed. "They’re not going to get shit from you if I can help it."

The way Michael determinedly took his allegiance aside Ryan reminded the young king of the way Michael stood by him in battle before. Ryan smiled. 

"Thank you for your support, Michael." Ryan bowed his head. "I knew I could count on you…but telling them to fuck off won’t be enough I’m afraid."

"Shall I return home and alert Banjshire’s army to be on the ready?"

"If you’d be so kind." Ryan sighed. "Hopefully it won’t escalate to a full out battle…maybe I should just give my kingdom up."

"What?" Michael stood up. "Fuck that, fuck all of that."

"Michael-" Ryan began but the prince of Banjshire walked over to where the king stood.

"Your parents fought hard to keep that kingdom, they even died trying. Don’t you dare give up on what they fought for!"

"I…" Ryan was left speechless. He couldn’t think of much else to do instead of pull Michael in for a firm hug. The prince was surprised to say the least, but he returned the embrace. 

"We’re going to fuck them up." Michael grinned and pulled back to look at Ryan. "Lindsay and I will head off at once. We’ll send word to your kingdom when we’re ready."

"Thank you, Michael." Ryan bowed gratefully. 

"Come on, babe." Michael looked over his shoulder at his betrothed. Lindsay waved to Ryan, then to the others and took Michael’s arm. They left the Great Room. 

Ryan turned to the other men. 

"Well," Joel stood up. "I think that we could…exchange our ‘item’ now. Since it seems that it would come to great use, yeah?"

"Indeed, thank you Joel." Ryan nodded. 

"I’ll go back to my village and grab Adam and my apprentice. We’ll meet you at your palace in a couple days or so. No more than three!" Joel began walking towards the door.

"I’ll go with you!" Ray says, jumping up from the couch. 

"You will not. Times are dangerous and we need you here with us." Burnie stops Ray. "Joel will be fine on his own."

"Burnie, that’s fucking bullshit! I can go with Joel! I want to help him with-" Ray protests but is silenced when Burnie slams hands on the table.

"RAY! REMEMBER WHO YOUR DUTIES LIE WITH! YOU ARE A KNIGHT OF ACHIEVEMENT CITY! START FUCKING ACTING LIKE IT AGAIN!" Burnie stands up, red in the face from yelling. The room is stunned silent, all eyes on Burnie. The man’s face softens a bit along with his tone. "You used to be an excellent knight, you still are. But, you used to be far more focused. Though now, all you want to do is follow around Joel."

"Well…maybe…" Ray begins walking over to Joel. "Maybe I love Joel more than my position now." 

Gavin and Burnie’s jaws fall open. The prince can’t believe what he’s hearing. Ray had worked so hard to get to where he is now, and he’s very proud of his title. Why would he give all of that up? Could he possibly mean what he’s saying?

"Ray, you don’t mean that. You’re just saying that because you’re upset." Joel says once the young knight is in front of him. "Burnie is right. I love you more than life, but this is time to be responsible."

"Joel, I can’t bare to be apart from you anymore. What if something happens while we’re apart and we never see each other again? What if-" Ray’s cut off by Joel’s hand on his cheek.

"We’re adults and we all have our duties…and I’ll see you soon." Joel tilts Ray’s face up towards his own, they kiss desperate for closeness. It’s now that Joel realizes that Ray is crying, his breath hitting the older man’s cheek in sobbing puffs.

"Fuck!" Ray hits a hand to Joel’s chest gently. "If anything fucking happens to you out there I’ll…I’ll…"

"It won’t. I’ve been born with stupid luck." Joel assures his lover. "It accounts for my anti aging, and the fact that I almost never get injured."

"Well make sure your ‘stupid luck’ doesn’t just so happen to run out if you become under attack." Ray warns playfully, but he means what he says.

"I love you." Joel kisses Ray’s lips again.

“I love you, too.” Ray sighs, wiping his face.

"Joel." Burnie speaks. The man looks up at Mr. Burns. 

"Yes?" Joel raises a brow.

"I’m very impressed with the courage and determination you’ve shown here." Burnie states in a tone that makes it unclear rather this is a compliment or an observation. 

"Thank you, Sir." Joel’s thanks sounds more like a question. Burnie’s never acted nicely to him before. Ray lets go of Joel. 

"Be safe." Ray grumbles, still upset that Joel is leaving. 

"See you soon." Joel presses one more kiss to Ray’s forehead then leaves the Great Room. With Joel gone, Ray covers his mouth with his hand and his shoulders quake. 

Gavin gets up and crosses the room to Ray. The prince rubs Ray’s back comfortingly. 

"Thanks, Gav." Ray says, uncovering his mouth. 

"Are you alright?" Gavin asks. 

"I’ll be fine, uh…" Ray sniffles. "Burnie, I’m going to alert our soldiers of the potential battle. See to it that they’re ready."

"Understood." Burnie nods, Ray leaves the room. 

This left Burnie, Ryan and Gavin in the Great Room. 

"W-what should I do?" Gavin asks Ryan. “Everyone else has a plan. What’s mine, Ryan?”

"Oh, right." Ryan smiles. "Well, usually when a kingdom is under attack, the king’s partner stays by his side."

"Alright." Gavin nods.

"So…I’m leaving to return to my kingdom. Would you like to come along with me?" Ryan offers. 

"Well, yes…but…" Gavin moves his hair from his eyes. 

"What?" Ryan inquires.

"I’d like to talk with Geoff and Griffon before I leave, if that’s alright."

"That’s fine." 

"Are you sure?" Gavin walks over to Ryan. "If it’s not then-"

"I want to leave closer to nightfall, let the darkness be my cover." Ryan confirms. "So, you’ve got time to speak with your parents."

"Oh, good." Gavin smiles and stands in front of Ryan. 

"Is there something that you want to speak with them about? Should I go with you?" 

"No, I want to go to them alone." Gavin says. "I want to talk with them about the baby, and the fact that…I think I want to marry you."

"Remind me what changed your mind, again?" Ryan smirks. Gavin can’t help but be in awe of the way his smirk brings the dimple into his cheek. The way the expression seems to make his blue eyes even bluer. 

"You’ll find out soon enough."


	19. Before the Journey Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The Kingdom of Aerios would be happy to welcome you, Prince Free of Achievement City." Ryan announced. 
> 
> With a gleeful squeal, Gavin lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Ryan again. 
> 
> "Thank you!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Hello!
> 
> Everyone! A few important things!
> 
> Please keep in mind that this story does have the smut tag, which means there will be sexual content from time to time! I'm not good at it, so it won't be very often. But I tried in a couple of previous chapters, and I tried once again in this chapter. So, please be aware while reading. Ok? 
> 
> NEXT, I finally named Ryan's kingdom! It's called "Aerios". I tried to name the kingdoms symbolically. Like Michael has Banjshire from the character Banjo in the game he likes. Joel has Ellison village because of Adam Ellis. Geoff and Gav have Achievement City, for obvious reasons. 
> 
> So, Ryan has Aerios. This is because naming the kingdom Edgar-something would've been weird. And naming anything else also didn't sound like a legit royal kingdom. But, Aerios sounds awesome and pretty. I got it from the word "aerial" like things that take place in the air. Because as we all know, Ryan is still very much in the air. So, fitting right? I hope you guys don't hate the name. I've been trying to label the kingdom forever!
> 
> Anyway, that's it. Enjoy, be safe, and I love you!
> 
> And as Always,  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~ThatMavin <3

Joel had done a good job being strong in front of Ray. Even when Ray had begun to cry, Joel had kept it together. But outside of the palace, he felt his eyes sting with tears. Leaving Ray usually sucked anyway, not this badly though. He’d never left Ray during a ‘state of emergency’ situation. He felt the same way about this as the knight did. What is something happens? Ray’s job is literally to lay his life on the line for the kingdom…and-

Joel sat on the front steps of the palace, not caring that there were guards nearby that might hear him cry. He held his face in his hands for a moment, letting the emotions pour from him. Soon, he started trying to take enough deep breaths to calm himself down. It helped a bit, helped him to clear his mind. Joel remembers all of the times that he’s seen Ray battle, and win every time. Ray could handle himself on the battlefield, should a war start. 

But, he didn’t have time to sit here and feel sorry for himself, and feel sorry for Ray. They could stop this. If Joel got back to Adam and Miles quickly enough, and Ryan and Gavin make it back to the palace to meet them there…they could stop this. Everything just needed to fall into place. Ryan only needed to get things under control at his kingdom, and then he and Gavin needed to marry. Then everything would be alright…right? 

_____________________________

Ryan watched as Gavin came from his bedroom. Ryan’s betrothed had just finished getting dressed into proper clothing. He loved the way Gavin looked in tight fitting trousers and a proper doublet.  

"What should I do for now, Gavin?" Ryan asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Gavin chuckled. "You’re the king, Ryan. You’re the one who's giving out orders." 

"I care very much what you think." Ryan stopped walking, causing Gavin to stop as well to look at him. 

"What?"

"Gavin," Ryan sighed, running his hand over his thick honey colored locks. "I appreciate you being willing to accompany me back to my kingdom. But, maybe this isn’t the right time…"

"Huh?"

"I mean, things are dangerous. You’d no doubt be safer here."

"So?"

"So, stay here with your family." Ryan gave Gavin stern blue eyes. "That’s an order."

"I won’t." Gavin smiled, regardless of the menacing look Ryan was giving him. 

"You will do as you’re told. At once."

"No." Gavin shook his head. 

"You just told me that I am the one giving orders." Ryan reminds him. "Now follow that which I have given."

"Ryan," Gavin closes the space between them, wrapping his arms around the young king, resting his head on his chest. 

"Why aren’t you listening to me?" Ryan’s strong voice falters into a pained one.

"Ryan," Gavin says again, holding him tighter until Ryan’s arms around wrap him in return. "I am."

"Then do as I say."

"I want to be with you." Gavin smiles, feeling safe in the king’s arms. "I will be safe with you, I feel it already."

"I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me." Ryan closes his eyes, resting his chin on the top of Gavin’s head. "You’re so young, you’re so stupid."

"Hey!" Gavin tilts his head up to Ryan’s. "Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you know any better."

"I’m not old."

"And I’m not young." Gavin shakes his head. "I’m younger than you, sure. But…I know that I’ll be alright. Even if not, I am to be your husband. I am to be by your side."

"You’re so stupid." Ryan repeats. 

"I am." 

Gavin gently holds Ryan’s face, guiding his lips to the king’s. It is a gentle kiss. Gavin’s lips are hungrier than Ryan’s. Trying to feed on all of Ryan’s worry until he has none left. With a groan of defeat, Ryan lets the breath he’s been holding out through his nose. He licks at Gavin’s lips until the prince parts them for Ryan and their tongues meet. Brushing against one another like waves. Rhythmic and at a naturally lazy pace. 

Ryan is the first to pull back, withdrawing his tongue and sealing the kiss with a small peck to the lips. 

"Gavin," Ryan presses his forehead to the younger man’s. "I…I don’t want anything to happen to you."

"I want to be by your side."

"I don’t want anything to happen to you." Ryan says again. "You are the first person in a long time to show me such kindness…and you never asked for this. Don’t get yourself hurt because of some duty you haven’t even officially been given. We’ve not been wedded yet. You don’t have to do this."

"My duty lies with you now." Gavin states. 

"It doesn’t! That’s what I’m trying to fucking tell you!" Ryan’s face reddens as his voice raises. 

"Ryan," Gavin bows his head forward, then drops to one knee. Eyes still looking at the floor. 

"Gavin…" Ryan’s face turns even redder, if that’s even possible. 

"My duty lies with you, my king." Gavin says formally, as is procedure for persons who wish to be at the use of a royal. Such as a knight, a squire, or common palace staff. For a prince to do this to a king was the largest sign of respect. 

Ryan wanted to cover his face. 

"Why are you doing this?" Ryan wants to be upset, but he chuckles. 

"I’ll only get up when you agree to let me join you back to your kingdom." 

Ryan grimaced and closed his eyes. Gavin found the crease in the king’s brow very adorable. The prince waited patiently for the king to open his eyes again, but he didn’t. Instead, his brow uncreased and Ryan bowed forward gracefully. 

"The Kingdom of Aerios would be happy to welcome you, Prince Free of Achievement City." Ryan announced. With a gleeful squeal, Gavin lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Ryan again. 

"Thank you!" Gavin beamed. 

"Be careful at all times." Ryan’s stern tone is back. 

"I will."

"Stay by me unless I say otherwise."

"Got it."

"Also…" Ryan blushes. 

"What?"

"I dunno…just…" Ryan sighs. "Just don’t be stupid."

"That one will be hard, but I’ll try." 

"Thanks." 

"I’m going to go talk to my parents now."

_____________________________

 

Gavin’s heels clicked down the hallway until he stopped outside of Geoff and Griffon’s bedroom. With a deep breath, he went to knock but the door flew open, startling him. 

"Oh, Gavin!" Jack greeted him, Caiti peering at the prince from behind her husband. 

"Hello, Gavin." Caiti greeted him with a smile. 

"Hi," Gavin tried to look passed them but he couldn’t really see into the room. "Are Geoff and Griffon here? Can I speak with them? Are they busy?"

"Go on in," Jack and Caiti stepped out of the way. 

"Thank you." Gavin replied as he made his way into the room. As Jack and Caiti left, Gavin was hit with the reality. The reality surrounding the nature of the conversation about to be held. 

They were about to discuss the baby, which Geoff and Griffon had talked to everyone else about, besides him. That they’d left their ‘son’ out of it, something incredibly important. 

That the way they’d been acting was shady and disgusting. They were money hungry and parasitic. Leaching from whatever money source they could. 

And…that Gavin was leaving. He was going to Ryan’s kingdom and…he might be gone for a long while. Depending on how things go.

"Gavin," Griffon rose from her place on the love seat in the corner of the room where she and Geoff were sitting. "I’m glad you’re here."

"Did Burnie tell you I’d planned on coming?" Gavin inquired without saying hello. 

"Yes, he did mention such." The queen nodded. 

"Shame, I wanted to come to you before you had time to pick your bullshit answers." Gavin sighed. Griffon grimaced at Gavin’s bitter reply. Geoff stood up, about to make his way to the alcohol. "Don’t." Gavin stopped him. Geoff froze in place. He was about to tell Gavin off for attempting to tell him what to do, but Griffon turned her head to her husband and mouthed ‘no’. 

"Gavin," Griffon frowned. "Why do you think we’re going to bullshit you?"

"You always do." Gavin shrugged. "You haven’t given me a straightforward answer in a long time."

"It’s not because we want you to think we’re being dishonest with you." Griffon says with a small smile. "We don’t lie to you."

"I never said that you lied to me!" Gavin pulls his arm away as she reaches forward to touch it affectionately. "You never lie to me, you just don’t tell me the truth!"

"But-"

"No! No buts!" Gavin shook his head. "Like the baby for example?"

"Yes…" Griffon puts her hands over her belly. "About that-"

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Gavin asks, a broken plea in his tone. "I thought you couldn’t have children! I thought you picked me because I was to be the heir."

"You are, the baby will just be next in line." Geoff chimes in finally. "We didn’t think we could get pregnant either."

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Gavin’s voice still sounds hurt. 

"We didn’t want you to think that because we had another heir, that you wouldn’t have to be responsible for the kingdom." Geoff frowns. "The child we have won’t be able to rule for nearly two decades after they’re born. We don’t want to be shit out of luck for two decades. And we trust you Gavin. We trust you so much."

"We really do. And we love you." Griffon adds. 

"We love you from the bottom of our hearts. Gavin you’re our son, you always will be." Geoff smiles warmly. 

"But…you two have been acting so strange lately. Especially when it comes to money. You don’t even care about my happiness anymore." Gavin states. 

"What?" Griffon asks. "Of course we do."

"Forcing me to marry?" Gavin retorts. 

"We…thought you’d like Ryan." Geoff blushes. "You don’t remember him do you?"

"Remember him from when?" Gavin raises a brow. 

"When you two were younger, well — you were very young." Geoff chuckled. "But, Ryan and his parents came to visit for the summer. You followed Ryan everywhere."

"It was very sweet." Griffon laughs too. "You wouldn’t call Ryan by his name. You just called him ‘Mine’." 

"Yeah, if you were going to do something, you’d say ‘Daddy, Mine and I are going outside’ or ‘Can Mine and I go to the pond?’ and it was very cute." Geoff explains. "You were only a bit older than a toddler."

"I don’t…" Gavin tried hard to remember. He remembers spending time by the pond with someone. He remembers feeling strong hands pulling him out of the water when his head went under. He remembered that the boy had teeth missing and messy tawny hair. "But…I remember that being a servants boy. That wasn’t Ryan."

"No, it was." Geoff assures him.

"Well…good." Gavin confirmed. 

"Why good?" Griffon asks. 

"I do want to marry him." Gavin announces. The king and queen both intake air sharply. 

"What?" Geoff responds first. 

"It had nothing to do with the past…but…" Gavin smiles, face turning rouge. "I feel something incredible with him. I can’t explain it really. I just want to be by his side."

"Just like when you were little. Always ready to follow behind him." Griffon smiled.

"Yeah, actually…that’s what I plan on doing." Gavin says. 

"Plan to do what?" Griffon leans her head on Geoff’s shoulder as they stand close together. 

"I plan to accompany him back to his kingdom, to help him resolve the war before it starts." Gavin looks at both of them. 

"You can’t leave…what if-" Griffon begins but Geoff silences her with a touch to the shoulder. He steps forward. 

"This is what you want to do?" Geoff searches Gavin’s eyes for any doubts, but he sees none. 

"I do." Gavin nods. "I have made it my duty to be by his side."

"Then…you’ve made your choice. We shan’t stop you." Geoff bowed his head to his son.

"Geoff!" Griffon turned to him. "We can’t lose him. He’s our son!"

"Ryan is a good man, he’ll protect Gavin." Geoff shook his head. "Gavin, I am dismissing you. Be safe on your travels."

"Thanks…Dad, Mom." Gavin felt his heart contort a bit with a strange emotion. Like he was going away from home for the first time. 

"Be safe, Gavin." Griffon finally sighed, bringing her son in for a hug. Geoff joined, the three of them embraced. 

_____________________________

Ryan and Kerry’s heads turned as the bedroom door opened. Gavin came in, a look of triumph on his face. 

"It went well?" Ryan spoke first. Gavin nodded, but didn’t speak. "I’m glad then."

"I am as well, congratulations." Kerry bowed his head forward. "We still have some time before we must away. Is there anything I can do for you?" 

"You’re being formal, Kerry." Gavin pointed out. "Has Ryan instructed you to do so? I don’t mind if you address me casually."

"He’s been doing that. Even with me." Ryan frowns. "I told him to cut it out."

"Why are you doing it, Kerry?" Gavin asked, sitting next to Ryan. Kerry didn’t respond. 

"It’s because he’s upset." Ryan sighs. "I haven’t… _been about_  with him since you agreed to stop going about with Lindsay and Michael.”

"Gone about…?" Gavin rose a brow, Kerry’s ears turned pink. "Oh."

"Yeah…" Ryan nodded. 

"So, you…haven’t done  _anything_  since then?” 

"No, Gavin." Ryan shook his head.

"If you want to…’go about’ with Kerry…I guess that’s fine." Gavin turned his head away from Ryan. 

"I don’t want that." Ryan shook his head again, leaning towards Gavin, brushing a kiss to his jaw. He whispered in his ear. "I want it, but with you."

"Uh…" Gavin looked over at Kerry, who was now standing at the foot of the bed, staring down at his feet. Ears still pink. "What about him?" Gavin whispered back. 

"What? You want him to join us?" Ryan chuckled. 

"Not this time." Gavin says before he can stop himself. Ryan inhales too quickly and begins to cough. "I mean…no."

"You totally want to do it with Kerry!" Ryan shouts. Kerry’s neck snaps up to look at Gavin with wide eyes. 

"W-what?" Kerry stutters. 

"Kerry, come here." Ryan pats on the bed. 

"No thanks." Kerry shakes his head. 

"Kerry, come on. Gavin’s a pretty boy!" Ryan urges. 

"I’m going to go…for a walk." Kerry quickly bows and all but sprints out of the room, closing the door behind him. Gavin turned to glare at Ryan. 

"What the hell was that?" Gavin motions to the Kerry-less room.

"I thought if we creeped him out, he might leave." Ryan pushed Gavin back with his hand against his chest, until the prince was laying on his back. "But, you totally want a three way with me, you, and Kerry. You said ‘not this time’ and that totally means it."

"You brought up a threesome between the three of us, the day of the fair. To be honest…it crossed my mind just now." Gavin blushed. 

"Should I call Kerry back then?" Ryan smirked. That crooked smile always made Gavin’s heart race. 

"No…I want to experience you. On my own first." 

"We can do that." Ryan bit his bottom lip. 

~*~

Even without his clothes, Ryan’s body was dangerous. Even without the sheath that held his sword. Or the strap that kept a smaller dagger under his shirt. His flesh and bones were scarier than those things. Gavin laid on his back, thinking about all of the ways that Ryan could break him right now if he wanted to. 

"Gavin," Ryan gave a breathy laugh as he laid on his side, looking at his betrothed. "What’s the matter?"

"What?"

"You seem…scared." Ryan shrugged. 

"I’m…not." Gavin rolled onto his side as well. His body tensed as he felt Ryan’s hand running up his inner thigh. Gavin’s member twitched as the king’s hand got closer to it. But, Ryan’s hand teased purposefully around the sensitive skin near the member, not giving it attention. 

“Then what are you, if not scared?” Ryan rose a brow. 

“I’m…aroused to say the least.”

“Why are you holding your breath?” 

“I’m kind of in awe.” Gavin watches as Ryan raises from his side and moves to crawl between Gavin’s thighs. Gavin’s legs spread farther reflexively as he sits up.  

“In awe of what though?” Ryan laughs. “I don’t understand you, Gavin.”

“Do you remember me?” Gavin asks. 

“Pardon?” Ryan thinks that Gavin’s lost his mind at this point.

“We used to know each other, when we were children.” Gavin responds.

“Not the sexiest thing to talk about right now, to be honest.” Ryan comments. “But I do remember you. I was older, silly.”

“I don’t remember as much, the events that took place. But I remember how I felt.” Gavin says. “About you.”

“How’d you feel?”

“Like you were the only person who mattered to me in the world. And that, you and I weren’t separate beings. That you and I were meant to be side by side at all times.” Gavin explains, Ryan has laid his head on Gavin’s warm leg as he listened, a smile on his face. “But…” Gavin’s face becomes saddened. 

“I remember what it felt like when you left…after the summer ended.”

“How’d you feel?” Ryan asks again.

“I felt lost, alone. Scared.” Gavin lists. He feels Ryan move closer. 

“Hey,” Ryan’s face in suddenly inches from Gavin’s.

“Yeah?” 

“I don’t want to make you feel like that anymore.” Ryan leans forward to kiss Gavin gently.

“Then don’t leave me, ever again.” Gavin returns Ryan’s kiss. Ryan pulls back, moving his face into Gavin’s neck. “You know what I just thought about?”

“Are you always really talkative during sex?” Ryan chuckled into Gavin’s skin. 

“You’re not fucking me yet.” Gavin reached behind Ryan and giving his ass a firm smack. Ryan wasn’t really expecting it and he cursed. 

“Fuck, Gav…” Ryan bit onto Gavin’s neck like a warning. It hurt, but it hurt so good and Gavin’s hips moved forward looking for friction against Ryan’s body. “What’d you just think of?”

“What?” Gavin responded. Ryan’s bite had led him to forget his topic. 

“You said you’d just thought of something?” Ryan shrugged. 

“Oh, yeah!” Gavin laughs. “You’re going to penetrate me, right?”

“That’s the plan.”

“We’re going to be spending most of this journey on horseback, yeah?” Gavin inquires. Ryan laughs too when he gets what Gavin’s about to say. “My ass is going to bloody hurt and I’m going to be bouncing around on horseback from here to Aerios.”

Ryan laughed loudly and shamelessly. Gavin’s never heard Ryan laugh like this, and it’s the jolliest laugh he’s ever heard. Besides Geoff’s or Jack’s. 

“That’s hilarious!” Ryan declares. 

“To you maybe, — ah!” Gavin is cut off by Ryan’s teeth at his neck again, biting a different spot and even harder than the last time. Gavin’s cock twitches again. 

“It’s also really fucking hot.” Ryan sends a roll from his hips into Gavin’s. The prince wraps his legs around Ryan’s waist to keep the friction between their erections. 

“Ry, fuck.” Gavin’s moans, laying back with his head propped up by the pillows. 

“Every time your ass hurts you tonight, I want you to remember what I’m about to do to you. I want you to remember me inside you, do you understand?” Ryan asks. 

“Y-yes, fuck.” Gavin’s mind is currently at a loss for vocabulary. Ryan smirks as he watches Gavin become undone, and he’s yet to even really do anything. Ryan looked at Gavin like he was a new toy.  And fuck, Ryan was ready to play. 

“You look so pretty like this, Gav.” 

_____________________________

Kerry heard feet coming down the hall so he turned his head. He was surprised to see Ray approaching him. 

"Ray?" Kerry rose a brow. "Thought you might’ve left with Joel."

The knight gave Kerry darkened eyes at the statement. 

"I stayed here, as it is my duty." Ray announces in a clear tone, trying not to show his true emotions about the situation. 

"What's Joel doing, anyway?" 

"Damn it, Kerry." Ray shook his head. "I don’t want to talk about it. You should’ve seen me earlier. I was a mess."

"Oh…well, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that-"

"Joel is on his way back to Ellison village to gather up his apprentice and Adam to-"

"Wait!" Kerry interrupts. "Joel has an apprentice?"

"Yeah, he’s pretty cool. I’ve met him a few times." Ray nodded.

"What’s he like?" Kerry’s curiosity is getting the better of him. 

"Um…his name is Miles. He’s pretty handsome, funny. Honest." Ray shrugs. "He’s pretty cool, like I said."

"Hm." Kerry hums. "I never pictured Joel running behind some dopey apprentice kid."

"What?" Ray laughed. "He’s not a kid, he’s like our age."

"What?" Kerry looked surprised. "Where’s he from?"

"Banjshire."

"The kingdom of Michael’s family?" Kerry once again was surprised. "He must be brute and super unapproachable then." Kerry sighed disappointedly. "Everyone from Banjshire is all tough and muscular and stuff. They’re hot headed warriors."

"Dude, Kerry. No." Ray shook his head, laughing even harder at this. "That’s why Miles  _left_  Banjshire. He’s like…kinda scrawny and clumsy. He’s actually pretty shy until you get to know him. Once he’s familiar with you, he’s super friendly.” Ray rose a curious brow at Kerry. “Why do you care so much?”

"Huh?" Kerry was caught off guard by the question. 

_Why did he care so much?_

"Well?" Ray asks. 

"It’s just…" Kerry shrugged, still thinking of an answer. "He’s going to be hanging around Ryan’s palace with us. I don’t want to be hanging around some meathead warrior guy who thinks he’s so great."

"Oh, well you’re in luck." Ray begins walking down the hall towards his bedroom. "He’s a really good guy. I think you’ll be fond of Miles once you meet him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you I'm bad at smut!
> 
> But I'm excited to add some more ship tags to this story. You'll see them soon, maybe in two chapters or so. 
> 
> :) <3
> 
> Thanks for reading, babes :'3


	20. Even or Odd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you ready?”
> 
> “Yes, Gavin.” Ryan nods, then turns to the others. “Thank you for your hospitality, it was lovely to see you all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Look who's back from the dead!  
> What? No...not me, just the fic. Come on, guys :'3
> 
> I'm so, soooo sorry for the wait. I got dragged away by 'Something Different' and life, and...I got stuck on this story. Especially when it took a turn that I wasn't expecting. You'll see what I mean.  
> But, I felt like I lost control of the story, so I put it on the back burner. 
> 
> However, now I feel better about it. And, I have way more free time since school is done with for the semester, so here I am. 
> 
> Enjoy this chapter. Sorry for all the confusing feels that are ahead. 
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for Reading!  
> ~ThatMavin <3 !!
> 
>  
> 
> PS: this fic is still going to be PRO freewood, but...there are so many other ships attempting to sail, so bear with me :'3

By the time Kerry returned to the room, Ryan and Gavin were dressed and behaving again. Though, the scent of lust was still heavy in the air and Kerry crinkled his nose. 

“Hello, Kerry.” Ryan smiled pleasantly like he hadn’t been destroying Gavin moments before. 

“Hey,” Kerry folded his arms. “Have fun?”

“Indeed, thank you.” Ryan looks out the window at the sun. It was nearly gone and had let most of the land begin to go dark. It was almost time for them to leave. 

The young king looked over at Gavin who was already staring at the floor. Either because he’s embarrassed to be seeing Kerry to soon after having his round with Ryan. Or, because he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to his parents after just coming to some pretty level ground with them. It was kind of both, but it was mostly about having to say goodbye. 

“Would you like to go see your parents alone first?” Ryan asks his betrothed. Gavin looks up at him and shakes his head. He takes Ryan by the arm. 

“Come say goodbye with me.” Gavin insists. 

“As you wish.” Ryan nods to him, then looks over at Kerry. “Grab the bags and bring them to the carriage would you?”

“Yes, Sire.” Kerry bowed his head and did as he was told. 

“I thought you said we were going horseback?” Gavin asks. 

“We are, once we get to the edge of Achievement City, we will be.” Ryan nods, kissing Gavin’s temple.

Then the king leads them both to the Great Room where Geoff, Griffon, and a few others are waiting for them. 

~*~

As far as goodbyes go, these were the hardest. It was the first time Gavin’s said goodbye and it felt like it would be more permanent than before. Thought it wouldn’t be...should everything go well. 

Griffon had tears in her eyes already when Gavin came into the room. Gavin let go of Ryan’s arm and approached his mother, holding her tightly, but not too tightly as not to bother her pregnant belly. 

Geoff hugged Gavin next. The king sounded a bit choked up as he reminded Gavin to be careful. Gavin could barely respond himself. 

Jack and Caiti were held together pretty well, Caiti a bit more saddened toned than her husband. But, that’s just because Jack was better at hiding it. The bearded man was tremendously worried, and saddened to have the prince absent from the palace.  

Burnie’s usually composed speech was broken as he hugged the boy he’s been looking after for all of his young years. He even kissed Gavin’s hair. As Burnie let him go, the man turned away and wiped his tears. 

The last one to say goodbye to Gavin was Ray. As soon as they made eye contact, tears hit both of their eyes instantly. Ray was already emotional from seeing Joel off, he really couldn’t stand seeing Gavin go either. 

“Fuck,” Ray’s first utterance is a curse as they embraced. “This is so messed up, I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay here, where I can protect you.”

“I’ll be fine, Ray. You know that.” Gavin assures him.

“Yeah? Well promise.” Ray dares him. His tone was playful, but his lips pressed into a thin line and his eyebrow had come together. 

“I promise, I’ll be back soon.” Gavin nods. 

“Fucking bring Joel with you when you do.” Ray hugs him tighter. “You’re my best friend, Gav.”

“You’re mine too, you donut.” Gavin smiles and pulls back to see the younger man’s face. 

“God, I miss you already.” Ray took a deep breath, then they step away from each other. 

Gavin bowed his head to Ray, the knight returned the gesture. 

“I’m supposed to be a knight and I’m crying like an idiot over  _everything_  today.” Ray chuckles, wiping his face. Gavin pat his back.

“You’re human.” Gavin reminds him, wiping his face as well. He then looks over his shoulder at Ryan. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, Gavin.” Ryan nods, then turns to the others. “Thank you for your hospitality, it was lovely to see you all.”

“Same to you, Ryan.” Griffon smiles tearfully. 

“Return soon, we’d love to have you.” Geoff waves. 

Ray, Jack, Caiti and Burnie all bow their heads. Ryan smiles and holds his arm out to Gavin and the prince took it. 

_____________________________

Gavin hid his face in Ryan’s shoulder from the Great Room, and all the way to the carriage. Kerry saw the broken stature Gavin presented and when Ryan sat down with Gavin in the carriage, Kerry came from where he was already sitting to sit on Gavin’s other side. 

“Hey,” Kerry said once he was next to Gavin. The blonde looked up and at Kerry. “It’s ok, we’ll protect you.” Kerry rubbed Gavin’s arm comfortingly. Gavin wasn’t sure how to react to Kerry. The two of them hadn’t really ever talked much, but right now, Gavin didn’t care. He wanted the comfort. Gavin nodded at what Kerry had said and Gavin laid his head back on Ryan’s shoulder. 

However, he also brought his right arm through Kerry’s left and tugged Kerry so his side was flush against Gavin’s. The prince held tightly, so Kerry couldn’t even think about moving away. Kerry looked over at Ryan to make sure that this was okay with him. Ryan caught Kerry’s eyes and he reached over Gavin to pet Kerry’s head. 

Kerry took this as an ‘ok’ so, he relaxed against Gavin. Not like he had much of a choice anyway. He let the atmosphere settle in the carriage, the only noise was the rickety sound of the carriage moving along, the hooves of the horses. 

After moments of this silence, Gavin was lightly snoring as he fell asleep.

“Sorry for acting strangely...before.” Kerry sighs. “I thought Gavin was a threat, but he’s actually pretty cool.”

“Yeah he is,” Ryan nods. “ _And_  he’s here to stay.”

“I know.”

“He  _does_  want a three way though.”

“Doable,” Kerry says. “Pun intended.”

“Haha,” Ryan chuckles. “Nice pun, I give it...an average score.”

“Based on deliverance?”

“No,” Ryan shakes his head. “Based on the fact that you stopped being my Kerry.” The king’s eyes study the squire over Gavin’s shoulder. “We haven’t talked...like this in  _forever_.”

“What  _choice_  did I have? We weren’t allowed to be...together.”

“That doesn’t mean you had to abandon me completely.”

“This is hard for me...” Kerry looks down, still snuggled against the prince’s side. 

“I know, and I apologize for that.” Ryan sighs. “I’ll...we will, um...think of something.”

“Just enjoy him, Ryan.” Kerry feels a lump forming in his throat. “We were never going to get to be together anyway.”

“You don’t think so?” Ryan’s voice is flat, distant.

“Would you have married me, if you’d had the chance?”

Ryan thinks for a moment, sighing again. “I don’t know.”

“You wouldn’t have, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“I was never good enough, and I think...somewhere inside,” Kerry speaks calmly as possible. “That...all we were doing was...was playing a game.”

“It wasn’t a  _game_ , Kerry.” Ryan frowns. “I never wanted just to win.”

“Then, what did you want from me?”

“I wanted all of the ways you made me feel.” Ryan says. “You made me feel solid, alive. Whole, complete.” He takes a deep breath. “You were my other half, Kerry. We went everywhere, did everything together.”

“So, why must that no longer be the case?”

Ryan looks at Gavin, sleeping between the two of them.  _Why did things have to change? Why so quickly?_ The king wonders. It’s not like...Ryan had ever planned on being with Gavin. 

When they were younger, Ryan was simply amused that Gavin was so besotted with him. He thought it was funny, cute even. Obviously, the time they shared as children meant more to Gavin than it did to Ryan. Of course, Gavin was important to Ryan then. He never wanted to let anything hurt him, ever. He wanted to protect Gavin like that now, too. 

Ryan felt confused, and he knew that Gavin must’ve felt this way, when he was forced to chose between Michael and Lindsay, or Ryan. 

Everything was happening so quickly. 

Even though Ryan’s feelings for Kerry were so... _concrete_...as the king looked at Gavin, he felt a hard thrum in his chest. 

“You love him so much, so quickly.” Kerry closes his eyes tightly, trying to keep the tears in, but they meet his cheeks anyway. 

“Kerry, please don’t cry...I,” Ryan lays Gavin down gently on the bench of the carriage. He stirs a bit in his sleep, but soon continues snoring. "I’ve missed you.” Ryan moves to sit on Kerry’s other side, looking him in the eyes.

“Why?” Kerry just...really needs to hear him say it. 

“You were mine.” Ryan blurts out before he could stop himself. He felt so confused, all his insides stirring crazy. Feelings for Gavin, so new, so close to Ryan’s heart. But, the feelings for Kerry were so warm, familiar, light hearted...not as heavy as the ones for Gavin. 

Going into the danger that undoubtedly was laying ahead of them, Ryan felt the urge to protect both Gavin and Kerry with his life. 

The thought of possibly losing Gavin, for whatever reason, made Ryan feel angry, crazed. But, the thought of losing Kerry made Ryan feel broken, and small like a child, incomplete. 

_What does this mean? Do I love Kerry more than Gavin?_ Ryan thinks.  _I barely know Gavin, is it even fair to say? This situation is so fucked._

“Ryan,” Kerry says softly. “I know, that you are very pleased with your betrothed, but...I just wanted to say that-”

“Kerry, don’t say it.” Ryan shakes his head. “Whatever it is.”

“But, I  _have_  to say it.” Kerry reaches up to touch the King’s face. “I feel like I might not ever be able to say it.”

“Then, maybe you shouldn’t say it.” Ryan frowns. “Maybe you’re not meant to.”

“I love-” Kerry’s cut off by a hard kiss, it’d been  _so long_ since he’s had the king’s lips. “Yes.” Kerry murmurs against the older’s mouth. “Mine, mine please.”

“Shhhh,” Ryan shushes as he reaches a hand into Kerry’s hair, tugging slightly. “Not a word.”

“Yes, Sire.” Kerry nods insistently, just wanting to please his king. 

“That’s better.” Ryan speaks against Kerry’s mouth, claiming it in possessive kisses. 

But, the feelings switch for him again. No longer are the feelings for Kerry warm, moldable like dough. The feelings are hot, hungry. It feels more like he is  _taking_  Kerry, making him his. He feels his squire begin to smile against his own lips. “There’s the Kerry I know.” He speaks once more, and then it’s quiet.

Besides panted breaths and grabbing hands. 

Ryan thinks about how he’s just gone to bed with Gavin not too long ago, the poor prince still feeling the effects of their romp in his arse. Gavin stirs a bit in his sleep, as if he’s hearing Ryan’s thoughts.

The king kisses the squire harder, trying to pretend that things are the way they used to be. Before the death of his parents, and before he wanted anyone else but Kerry. But, maybe the squire was right, and this had always been a game. 

Ryan used to bring others to bed, not frequently, but it was’t uncommon. Those flings would last a night, maybe a week if they were good. Then, Ryan would crawl back to Kerry like the squire was his home. Kerry would lick Ryan’s wounds and speak to him softly like he was a babe. And, the king loved it. The king loved Kerry. 

Kerry had always thought Ryan to belong to him, because he was the only constant thing in Ryan’s life. The only thing Ryan seemed to  _need_  instead of simply want. Kerry wanted it always to be like that, but...something changed so suddenly within Ryan, when Gavin came along. And, at first Kerry hated it, and he hated the prince. 

Right now...Kerry just wants Ryan to be comfortable, to be happy. Whether that’s taking Gavin on dates to fairs, or kissing the squire in the back of a carriage, while his betrothed slept only inches away.

What a sick state of being, they’re all giving in to simple lust and love as if it was all the same thing. Giving into instincts like animals. 

_____________________________

Monty sat on the large throne, right leg folded over his left knee. He held a hand to his jaw as he thought, humming quietly while ideas flowed through his brain. Chris stood with his arms folded behind his back, waiting for a command to come from the substitute ruler, but Monty gave none. 

“Sir,” Chris broke the silence and Monty’s eyes slowly drifted over to him. “Do you suppose that King Ryan is  _actually_  on his way? Do you suppose our news reached him?”

“I have no doubts,” Monty sat up a bit taller. “Ryan knows how to handle his business whether he is in the castle or not, and  _this_  is definitely his business.”

“You’re right, Sir.” Chris nodded his head. “I do worry though, my king left without one of your specialty weapons. We should’ve sent one along with the letter.”

“ _Now_  you tell me?” Monty chuckles, his dark eyes focusing on the guard. “If you’re so damn smart, why aren’t you helping the others plan the war strategy?”

“I’m...not that smart, Sir.”

“Well, I’d beg to differ, but have it your way.” Monty took a pair of die from his pocket. “Even or odd, Chris?”

“Pardon?”

“Even or odd.” Monty began shaking them in his hand. 

“Even, I guess...” 

“Splendid.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who pestered me into continuing. It helped more than you'd know <3
> 
> You know who you are :)
> 
> Also, to those who have stuck with the fic through my absence. You're all ready awesome as well, duh (^_^)"/"


	21. Off Course

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Not at all.” Ryan lies smoothly enough to sooth Gavin’s worry for now. “So, what would you rather us do about our situation?”
> 
> “Standing around talking about it won’t help much.” Gavin finally lets go of Ryan’s arm, and he uses the hand to smooth the creases from Ryan’s doublet. “What does Kerry think?”
> 
> “I asked you what you thought first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello!
> 
> Returning from the abyss to post a short chapter!  
> Well, it's kind of 'normal' length, compared to most of the other chapters in this story.  
> Anyway, I just posted this really let you all know that I've not given up on this story, and to say something to you all. 
> 
> First, I'd like to answer a frequently asked question: am I going to be continuing this story?  
> Yes! I am going to be continuing this story. I'd REALLY like to finish it.  
> There are quite a few chapters left, because there are several things I'd like to happen before this story ends.  
> So, yeah it's going to be continued. I've just been busy and kind of a lot of ups and downs lately. Including my computer breaking. Sooo, it's sort of hard for me to get (anything) done anymore.
> 
> Not only that, but someone has been reposting my stories to an eBooks website...?  
> It makes me super uncomfortable sharing anymore writing.  
> But, I'm doing it anyways because I'm...optimistic (or maybe kinda dumb I guess).
> 
> In the 'more notes' section, I'm going to be addressing another 'issue' about this story, that I feel like I should address. 
> 
> Other than that, enjoy this chapter.  
> I will update again ASAP. 
> 
> And As Always,  
> Thanks for Reading!  
> ~ThatMavin

            Ray hated waiting. He disliked not knowing what was going to happen and when. And, as of right now, he was waiting for the _unknown_ to happen at any given time. Right now, Joel was out there without him. The older man and his clumsy ways of combat. Joel and his ‘stupid luck;. If and when Joel made it back to his home in Ellison village, Ray wouldn’t know immediately if he was alright or not. Even if Joel sent a letter, it wouldn’t get to Ray until the next day, at the earliest. And then, even if Joel gets to Ellison, he’s heading with his apprentice and Adam to Ryan’s kingdom of Aerios right after, to finally make his long overdue delivery.

            The knight had already done his job of alerting the soldiers and the other knights of the possible attack. And of the possible need to ally with Ryan’s kingdom for battle. Everyone seemed ready enough combat-wise. Ray was far too mentally preoccupied to put them through any rigorous training today. He’d hold off for that tomorrow. He knew Burnie wouldn’t like that. But he didn’t quite care. He just…couldn’t stop thinking about Joel. Burnie wasn’t incorrect when he’d said that Joel was a distraction for Ray.

            Usually Gavin was a huge distraction of Ray’s, but, Gavin was gone; on his way to Aerios as well, with the young ruler and his squire. Everyone else was off doing things. While Ray was…sitting and waiting. He hated this. Ray occupied himself with pacing the halls, stopping to kick the wall when he felt like it.

            He wasn’t relieved from his pacing until Caiti happened upon him. Seeing Ray’s current state of distress, she gathered him up, bringing him to the Great Room for a distracting round of cards with herself and Jack.

_____________________________

            Gavin woke up, realizing that the carriage suddenly stopped. He heard the deep rumble of Ryan’s voice outside of the ‘vehicle’. He looked around, before sitting up, feeling the reminding soreness in his bottom. A groggy smile spread over his face when he remembered why.

            “You’ve arisen.” Kerry says from his seat across the carriage. Gavin’s eyes flicker to him, and he gives Kerry a smile as well. Gavin just feels pleasant, all around.

            “Why have we stopped?” Gavin asks, instinctively feeling his chest, searching for and finding the strap that secures his bow and arrows to his back. “Is everything  alright?”

            “Yes, Sir.” Kerry nods. “Well, yes and no.”

            “You don’t have to call me that, you know.” Gavin arches a brow, and tries to listen in on Ryan’s conversation with…whoever. But, finds it impossible to make out any of the words. “So, why’ve we stopped?” He asks again.

            “One of the drivers has reported some odd behavior, and he thinks we’re being tracked and or followed.” The squire announces. “We’re attempting to decide whether or not to just stop for the night, and get going again some time tomorrow.”

            “What?” Gavin frowned. “No.” He keeps his head ducked low as he makes his way towards the carriage doors.

            “Sir – Gavin!” Kerry tries to reach and grab ahold of the prince’s doublet, but he doesn’t make it. Gavin’s already popped out of the carriage before he can grab him.

            Ryan’s back is to his betrothed, and he’s speaking to one of the carriages drivers.

            “There is a small village to the east that you might find fitting to spend the night in, your majesty.” The driver says.

            “Our only option?” Ryan inquires, not unsettling at all when he feels an arm loop through his own. He knows it’s either Gavin’s or Kerry’s. But, feeling the size of the hand, and gathering the height of the person’s present, he knows it’s Gavin.

            “I’m afraid so, we’re out quite far from any major kingdom, Sir.” The driver bows his head in apology, hoping that his news of the small village is enough to please the king. Ryan only sighs, then reaches his hand up to place it over Gavin’s which lies on his arm still.

            “Oh, archer,” Ryan pats Gavin’s hand. “Welcome back from your slumber, was it restful?”

            “ _Archer_?” Gavin giggles at the new nickname. “Yes, I did rest well.”

            “I assume Kerry’s informed you of our predicament?” Ryan watches as Gavin nods. “Well, good, because we may or may not be a bit fucked.”

            The driver coughs when Ryan curses, and that leads the young king to acknowledge the man again. Ryan eyes the driver before clicking his tongue to get the man’s attention.

            “Yes, Sir?” The driver looks up at Ryan, head still bowed.

            “You have failed to greet my betrothed upon his arrival.” Ryan’s face darkens with displeasure. “Is this because you do not respect him as you do me?”

            “N-no, your majesty! When he arrive the two of you began talking and I thought it r-rude to interrupt!” The man is now flustered, and Gavin feels guilty. He hadn’t been offended by the lack of greeting. Gavin had _noticed_ that he wasn’t greeted. But, he hadn’t thought much of it. “I’m very sorry, Sir Free. I shan’t do it again.”

            “Really…it’s alright.” Gavin offers the gentleman a smile. “To be honest, I appreciate the kindness you showed by letting my betrothed and I speak.” Gavin nods. “Thank you.”

            The driver seems surprised, mouth hanging open dumbly before he smiles back at Gavin. Ryan only sighs at them, then orders the driver to go back to his seat, while he discusses the choice further with Gavin.

            “You are too kind.” Ryan comments, brushing the prince’s fringe from his eyes. “We can’t be _too_ kind, can we? We’ll look weak.”

            “You couldn’t possibly look weak.” Gavin squeezes Ryan’s arm that he’s still holding, feeling the muscle even through the doublet and blouse that Ryan is wearing. “Too strong to ever look that way.”

            Ryan can only grin at him, but…it doesn’t last long. He feels guilt creep up his spine as he remembers how he’d claimed Kerry’s mouth whilst the prince was sleeping.

            Gavin sees the smile wipe from Ryan’s face far too quickly, and the younger man frowns in response.

            “Something wrong?” Gavin asks, and Ryan only shakes his head.

            “Not at all.” Ryan lies smoothly enough to sooth Gavin’s worry for now. “So, what would you rather us do about our situation?”

            “Standing around talking about it won’t help much.” Gavin finally lets go of Ryan’s arm, and he uses the hand to smooth the creases from Ryan’s doublet.  “What does Kerry think?”

            “I asked you what you thought first.”

            Gavin is silenced for only a moment, by Ryan’s sincerity. When the prince doesn’t response right away, Ryan gives a breathy chuckle, before cupping one of his large hand to Gavin’s face. The king’s thumb brushes over the prince’s cheek bone.

            “So, tell me what you think? Please?” The king’s voice is gentle enough to make Gavin be able to ignore any forthcoming dangers. But, the younger shakes his head to clear it from the Ryan induced fog.

            “If we _are_ being followed,” Gavin begins. “Then, by who?”

            “By enemies, of course.” Ryan’s answer comes quickly, and Gavin feels silly for even asking the question. But, he doesn’t let it show.

            “Well, how many?”

            “We’ve spotted a trio.” Ryan answers quickly again.

            “Three people?”

            “Three groups.” Ryan confirms. “Wearing similar attire.”

            “Soldiers?” Gavin asks.

            “Maybe.”

            “Interesting.” Gavin concludes, leaning into the warm hand still against his face. “But, would stopping into a village actual…help out situation?”

            “That’s what I’m wondering.” Ryan asks. “Would it make us more vulnerable to stop there?”

            “I’m not sure.”

            “If we keep going onward, we’ll just be out in the middle of no where.” Ryan sighs. “And then, we’ll end up surrounded and with no where to go.”

            “How long until we reach our first checkpoint?” Gavin turns his face to press a kiss into Ryan’s palm.

            Another pang of guilt rushed through Ryan, but it was quickly soothed by a pang of affection for this lanky prince of Achievement City.

            “We’re quite a bit away.” Ryan sighs. “From our first checkpoint, I mean.”

            “We should stay for the night then.” Gavin decides. “So we’re not stranded and surrounded, like you said. It figures that getting from Point A to Point B isn't going to be as simple as it sounds.”

            Ryan stares fondly at his betrothed. Gavin eyes are gentle, colored like evergreen trees. Soft, familiar. Gavin makes Ryan feel new again.

            “Let’s just check and see if Kerry agrees, then we’ll do that.” Ryan confirms, and of course, Kerry agrees with Ryan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's the thing. 
> 
> As most of you know, our dear friend Monty has passed away.  
> And, I'm so so heartbroken by this. I think about it so often, because I just can't believe it sometimes.
> 
> That being said, I'd love to help keep his memory alive.
> 
> I wrote Monty into this story before he passed away (last chapter or the one before that), and I'd like to leave him in.  
> I debated for a long time, if I should take him out of this fic or not. 
> 
> But, wiping him out of this story would make me feel like I was taking his memory out.  
> The character I'm going to write Monty as, is this super cool guy who's a master crafter, and makes these cool (sort of RWBY inspired) weapons. 
> 
> And, nothing bad is going to happen to the character. I just really can't bring myself to take the character out completely. He will appear in a few more chapters before the story ends.  
> I hope you all understand and don't mind that Monty is going to remain in the story. 
> 
> If it really makes any of you upset with me or uncomfortable...I'm really sorry, and you don't have to keep reading.  
> Would it help any of you if I put a 'warning' in the chapter notes before the chapters that Monty would appear in?  
> Or...something like that? If you'd rather talk to me about it personally, all of my contact information is under the 'Profile' tab on my AO3 dashboard. 
> 
> (^_^)"/"


End file.
